If you look at social media, you can see countless pictures of people in their various activities. I saw it differently the other day. If you look at all their pictures in a line, you can see them aging, their bodies changing, and their kids growing up. After several years of pictures pile up, you begin to think, "Wow, look at them then." That can be good or bad. The point that I was brought to was very humbling. What is the point of it all?
I think that the answer is found in what Jesus said and Isaiah wrote. Jesus gave us the Great Commandment (win the lost, make disciples, and baptize them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit). To add to that, the prophet Isaiah wrote, "It is a light thing that I have brought you out of slavery and into freedom and restore the preserved ones of Israel, but I give you to be a light to the Gentiles. To be My salvation unto the ends of the earth."
That is basically the meaning of life, is it not? How many people do you know that lives life without Jesus in it? Yes they may be rich, but what do they have to do to get that wealth? How is their family affected? WHat about people who are promiscuous in their relationships? Does that do anything but damage? Countless soul ties being made and broken. Eventually both of these examples come crashing down on everyone involved.
So what if we dedicated our lives to showing others the best life that Jesus talked about and brought to everyone that He came into contact with? He encountered all sorts of people that were bound to a system of who's in and who's out. He qualified 12 guys to be disciples of a Rabbi when everyone else had told them that they were not good enough. He went to a prostitute's house and treated her as a human instead of a dog not deserving of respect. However, when the people that were doing the oppressing looked down on Him for those kinds of things, those are the ones that He got course with.
One parable that I want to focus on is the rich man and Lazarus. First off, where was Jesus sitting when He told that parable? You have to flip back a few pages to Luke 14 to find out that He was at a prominent Pharisee's house. There were poor people at his gate begging for food. If you go back and read the rest of the parables that He told while sitting there, they almost all have a common theme: Do not let poor people starve while you have plenty to share with them. THey told parables for identification. Who are you in the story? Can you imagine the pharisee hearing this story and identifying himself with the rich man and then he finds out that he goes to hell?
We live in a fallen world, nothing is going to be perfect for anybody. We are going to go through junk that is sometimes the enemy, sometimes things just happen, and sometimes its our fault. The point is that we all have a story to tell. We as Christians have something to offer others that are going through the storm that we just went through. Our time is precious. We do not know when our time is going to be up. Be wary of what you say, how you say it, and who you say it to. You may be the only representation of Jesus that some people ever see.
Preach the Gospel of peace and show the best/blessed life to others in your own life. THAT is the yoke of our Rabbi!
Grace and Peace be with you ALWAYS!!!
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