Good morning Pastor John!
I woke up this morning thinking about what Brother Billy said last night about staying spiritually healthy for the body’s sake. It made me think about when you’ve been working out physically and stop for a bit, starting again can feel daunting. You just have to jump in and begin to get back into shape.
I read Lesson 9 in the Lessons from Isaiah book, called “Becoming”, and it was so good to me. But this time, something struck me more deeply than it did before. This parable:
“Who, then, is a faithful and prudent steward, whom the master will put in charge over his servants to issue rations at the appropriate time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. . . . But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the men servants and women servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will show up on a day that he doesn’t expect, and in an hour that he doesn’t know, and he will cut him off and appoint him his portion with the unbelieving.” (Lk. 12:42–43, 45–46)
This is about God’s servants — not unbelievers. I don’t think I ever really slowed down and took in that this wasn’t about unbelievers and Jesus coming back. It’s about those who are His, and what shape they’re in when God sends Jesus back. That makes being in shape even more vital when you read how God will deal with those who let themselves go.
P.S. I loved Samuel’s testimony last night. Beautiful to see.
Beth