Nourishment of Obedience

"And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.'" Luke 12: 42-43 NASB

I understood the most remarkable bit of truth this morning, and can't wait to share it with you. Just as the Army is "looking for a few good men", Jesus is looking  for faithful and sensible servants. (Click the links to read the previous posts in this series.)

As I read this, Jesus has a specific task in mind for these faithful, sensible servants. His plan is to put them in charge of giving rations to his servants at the proper time. It's a different way of saying, "feed my sheep." 

We're taking a little segue, but I'll pull the threads together at the end. In John 4, the disciples urged Jesus to eat. "No," He told them. "I have food you don't know about." The disciples were surprised. "Who brought Him food?" Jesus just smiled. "My food," He explained, "is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work." 

Obedience was as sustaining as food to Jesus. Nourishment to His soul.

If faithful servants are to give rations at the proper time, could it  be that the "ration" is obedience? 

Jesus is searching for faithful, sensible servants who can demonstrate obedience to fellow believers. The servant He needs is one who finds the will of God as nourishing for their soul as food is to their body and can "give" that desire for nourishing obedience to their fellow followers.

I can't give what I don't have.

If I want to be the faithful, sensible steward who is rewarded by God with more responsibility in the Kingdom, I must begin by being the kind of follower who finds obedience nourishing and joyful.

The world has turned the idea of obedience into a hard and torturous idea, but following Christ is the most amazing, fun journey possible. He plants sweet surprise around every corner and wraps even the hard times in a blanket of joy. Jesus turns obedience into nourishment and it's sweet nourishment, indeed.

Rather than focusing on doing, let's focus on being a faithful, sensible servant who finds obedience the greatest adventure of all. It's only then that we can be the servant who serves the joy of obedience to those around us.

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Our Father, help me to follow You with persistence so that I can demonstrate the great joy of obedience to those around me. In Jesus name, amen.

WaIting for Jesus, part 22: and so she ate

He, however, took her by the hand and called, saying, "Child, arise!" And her spirit returned, and she got up immediately; and He gave orders for something to be given her to eat. (Luke 8:54-55 NASB)

And so she ate. I'm sure she did, aren't you? Jesus "gave orders for something to be given her to eat".  That wasn't just a random array of words. He sent someone, probably her mother, to get something for her to eat with the expectation that she would eat it. That may not seem remarkable until you remember that this young girl had been terminally ill, had died, Jesus had called her spirit back, and He had brought her to life again. She had had a pretty exciting and difficult time of it. The natural inclination after that would be to prop up the pillows, lie back, and luxuriate in the joyful greetings of friends and loved ones. There would be a tendency to bask in the attention the situation and miracle would bring. 

That was not at all what Jesus intended. He didn't bring her back to life to lie in the bed. He brought her back to life to LIVE, and living would begin by regaining her strength. Regaining her strength would begin with proper nourishment. She had been back to life for just a few minutes and already Jesus was putting her on a "training program". It did not matter that she was not yet twelve years old. Living was what He intended, and living is what she would do. 

The thing we often forget is that LIVING is what Jesus intended for us, as well. He was very clear when He said, "I have come that you might have life, and have it more abundantly." (John 10:10) There is nothing about abundant living that involves luxuriating at our ease. The word translated as "abundantly" is  perissos.  Blueletterbible.org describes  perissos as "superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon".  That is exactly the kind of life Jesus came to give us, and it is the life He intends us to live. Imagine that! What Jesus wants us to do is live "superior, extraordinary, surpassing, uncommon" lives, and when we do, our very lives will be like road signs pointing people to Jesus.

Is that the life you are living? Is it the life your loved ones are living? If not, why not? If Jesus came to give you a perissos life, and He did, why not live the way He intended? It all begins with nourishment, and perissos nourishment begins with the word of God. 

Dear ones, have a super extraordinary, surpassingly uncommon day, and do it because that's what Jesus said for you to do! 

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Link to last night's post: http://leannahollis.blogspot.com/2014/09/lessons-from-battlefield-part-18.html

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On this anniversary of 9/11 pray for those who lost so much in that tragedy but also pray for those who put their lives on the line daily to keep our nation safe from further attack. Pray that the efforts of those who would attack us would be thwarted.