Take Care!

TAKE CARE!

How often do we haphazardly disregard this instruction? God help us to “take care” of all that He has and will still to give us. Sloppy stewardship can be a hindrance to our walk with the Lord. Often it is not something we willingly choose to ignore but by default something else in our life takes precedence; work, holidays, family responsibilities, TV, and anything else that hinders our progress to God’s call upon our lives. May my heavenly Father forgive me for failing so dismally in this area of my life; we only get one crack at life and when it is over it is over. There will come a day when the books will be opened and our stewardship will be examined not by man but by God! Nevertheless today is a new day and we have a brilliant opportunity by faith to find grace to right our wrongs whatever they may be; we serve as God full of compassion, slow to anger and full of love for His children. Let us resolve to call out to Him from here on in.

Every Christian has been privy to a pilgrimage from Egypt (slavery to sin), through the Read Sea (the miracle of salvation), into the Wilderness (the testing of our faith) on our way to the Promised Land (heaven).

Here then is the parable; "For it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted to them his property. To one he gave five talents, to another two, to another one, to each according to his ability. Then he went away.” (Matthew 25:14-15) – We must “take care” not to think that because we have not been given the measure that the minister or the pastor has that we are to sit on our laurels. The smallest acts of kindness to our brothers and sisters in Christ can only ever hold us in good stead with our Master; the idea on burying even the smallest of measures is nothing more than a trap full of deceit. Our mind-set must not be one of “I can’t” but rather “what can I do”! This is not a word of judgement but rather an encouragement. It would be good to ask God for grace to place this awareness in the forefront of our minds and have it written deep within our hearts, remembering what the Lord Jesus had to say about stewardship; “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.' Then the righteous will answer him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.'” (Matthew 25:35-40)

We needn’t have a great ministry with a booming voice or a charismatic character to be useful to our Master; it’s the little things that often have the greatest effect. A kind word in season, a visit, sharing someone’s burden by just lending an ear and the like we can all do! I believe that is what our great Saviour is teaching us with this parable. Let us “take care” to be sensitive to the needs of others. If we consider the design of our bodies which God has created to work in unison, if we twist our ankle the other ankle willingly works harder taking more weight, even though we walk with a limp. Before long the healing process runs its course and our bodies are back to normal.

This world with all its systems teaches us to survive, “eat or be eaten” this however is not the instruction for the Christian. Freely we have received now let us learn to freely give! Do not let the lie of the enormity of the task at hand render us useless but rather let us look for every opportunity to be actively involved. And remember that even offering someone a glass of water will go a long way into eternity.

Signing off

Tyrone