Fast Day 13 Am I Willing to Be the Poor Wise Man
Ecclesiastes 9:14-15 There was a small town with only a few people, and a great king came with his army and besieged it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man, and by his wisdom he delivered the city. Yet no one remembered him.
The more I read the bible I am consistently challenged to make sure that my heart's motives behind my actions are lived out for the Lord and him alone. I know it is a lot so please bear with me but upon reading this verse questions and scenarios began to flood my mind.
-Do you do the right thing because of the results that come from your efforts or do you do the right thing because it's the right thing to do?
-Do you find that you step up to the plate only when there is an audience or are you willing to give your absolute best even when no one is watching?
-Do you do things in your life so that you would be remembered, leaving a name for yourself?
-As a Pastor/worship leader/church volunteer…..If I knew in advance that only one person would be showing up to church for service would I still work just as hard preparing my sermon/ worship set/ or setting up for church as I would if I knew there would be thousands in attendance?
These are some challenging questions that help to keep our hearts in check as Christians. We are the reflection of Christ to everyone around us and we must remember that it is not my ability to imitate Christ that saves lives, it is my ability to let Christ live through me. Do you find that in your life your reasoning for imitating Christ is because you're looking for the result of an unbeliever's life being changed. If it is, I encourage you to not let the results be the driving factor in why you serve the Lord. We should be serving the Lord because we are in love with Him and Him alone. Yes he has asked us to go into the world and spread the gospel and we should. But our reason for serving the lord should be because we love the Lord so much that it is his love for me that compels me and not the results of our efforts that compel us. If the results of our serving the Lord is the driving factor for serving the Lord we must ask ourselves “ what happens to our motivation for serving the Lord when we begin to not see the results we hoped for?” If we are not seeing the results we hope to see, does that mean we stop serving the Lord? Absolutely not. If I serve Christ because of the people then I will at some point grow weary because people will inevitably fail me at some point. Am I willing to serve God the rest of my life even if no one I minister to decides to follow Jesus? In Ecclesiastes This poor wise man saved a city that had been captured and put into slavery and it says that not a single person remembered this poor man or what he did for them so again I ask, “Am I willing to be this poor wise man.” Do I truly love the Lord with all my heart enough to sing the old hymn, “even though none will go with me, still I will follow.” I find this very short story in Ecclesiastes to be a great opportunity to keep my heart in check as to why I serve the Lord. Our church motto is “A King and His Cause” but let us believers not forget one simple truth…….the results I see from the cause that I serve should never be more important to me than the love I show to the King.
The more I read the bible I am consistently challenged to make sure that my heart's motives behind my actions are lived out for the Lord and him alone. I know it is a lot so please bear with me but upon reading this verse questions and scenarios began to flood my mind.
-Do you do the right thing because of the results that come from your efforts or do you do the right thing because it's the right thing to do?
-Do you find that you step up to the plate only when there is an audience or are you willing to give your absolute best even when no one is watching?
-Do you do things in your life so that you would be remembered, leaving a name for yourself?
-As a Pastor/worship leader/church volunteer…..If I knew in advance that only one person would be showing up to church for service would I still work just as hard preparing my sermon/ worship set/ or setting up for church as I would if I knew there would be thousands in attendance?
These are some challenging questions that help to keep our hearts in check as Christians. We are the reflection of Christ to everyone around us and we must remember that it is not my ability to imitate Christ that saves lives, it is my ability to let Christ live through me. Do you find that in your life your reasoning for imitating Christ is because you're looking for the result of an unbeliever's life being changed. If it is, I encourage you to not let the results be the driving factor in why you serve the Lord. We should be serving the Lord because we are in love with Him and Him alone. Yes he has asked us to go into the world and spread the gospel and we should. But our reason for serving the lord should be because we love the Lord so much that it is his love for me that compels me and not the results of our efforts that compel us. If the results of our serving the Lord is the driving factor for serving the Lord we must ask ourselves “ what happens to our motivation for serving the Lord when we begin to not see the results we hoped for?” If we are not seeing the results we hope to see, does that mean we stop serving the Lord? Absolutely not. If I serve Christ because of the people then I will at some point grow weary because people will inevitably fail me at some point. Am I willing to serve God the rest of my life even if no one I minister to decides to follow Jesus? In Ecclesiastes This poor wise man saved a city that had been captured and put into slavery and it says that not a single person remembered this poor man or what he did for them so again I ask, “Am I willing to be this poor wise man.” Do I truly love the Lord with all my heart enough to sing the old hymn, “even though none will go with me, still I will follow.” I find this very short story in Ecclesiastes to be a great opportunity to keep my heart in check as to why I serve the Lord. Our church motto is “A King and His Cause” but let us believers not forget one simple truth…….the results I see from the cause that I serve should never be more important to me than the love I show to the King.
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1 Comment
Great reminder