It Is Not For You…
Ephesians 2:1-10 (New Living Translation)
1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else. 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. 8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. 10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
I was having a conversation with someone recently about growing up in a household that always had either multi-generational atmosphere or my parents were sheltering or caring for family members, children that parents were irresponsible with or friends of the family that were in an economic crunch, personal crisis or struggling through some other life event. I cannot understand now how we can see family friends or anyone for that matter in need of help, encouragement, guidance, roof over their heads or food to eat and deny them, when we understand that they are there not because they were not trying, but because things transpired to cause a bad situation to manifest in their lives. We look at things all too often through selfish eyes, and we are always assessing how it inconveniences us, but we never think about why God gave us the resources, space, time, talent or means to provide in the first place.
When we were in sin Christ was sent to die for us, to provide a path back to relationship with God our Father. It was not because we had earned that right, but it was because of His goodness and His grace, His unmerited favor towards us that salvation is possible for us, and it is a provision that is ours to obtain. We seem to forget that God does not save us, give us provision or any other good thing for us to go into selfish mode and hoard what we have for ourselves. The Bible says Give and it shall be given unto you good measure pressed down shaken together and running over shall men give unto us. That with the same measure we give it will be given again unto us (Luke 6:38). That is not just in the area of offering, money, it is in life in general. If we open our hands to those in need we are serving God. For so many of us we only want to look at service to God as I dance in the dance ministry or I serve as a host or hostess, or I sing in the choir, but serving God is a lifestyle, it is a posture, in which we conduct ourselves. It is not about doing something because people are doing what we want them to do, that is manipulation. It is not doing because we are seen, that is seeking our own reward, and it is not about doing it when it is convenient, or does not cause us to be uncomfortable, or is not painful, that is being willfully disobedient. Serving God is at all cost, and it is entering into an understanding that our life is not our own, and it is by God’s mercy that we have and are in the place that we are, not for any other reason.
So before we make a decision to help or not to help, think for one second, what would God have of me, what is my reasonable service in this situation, and what would I pray someone would do for me? We need to stop being so caught up in us, and see what is really going on around us. Who is getting hurt by our lack of willingness to do, or us being more focused on ourselves than the fact that God called us and He placed us in a position to be a help and be A GOOD WORK!
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