No Harvest without Choosing to Trust Enough to Live by Faith
Good Morning Friends,
You know, if we are to have moral purpose in this uncertain world we should never celebrate the status quo, but should courageously confront it. Living lives of risk aversion is a terrible sin for it robs us and God of the world of the generative nature of the faith expression that God has uniquely placed in us as a gift.
Here our actions and efforts of courage can become a form of salvation that drives thought to a higher…a holier… a whole place grounded in God. We may still be servants, but servants with the vision and courage to speak the truth to a world that is too big to survive without it. Friends the simple truth is that we desperately need the inspiration of love manifested and incarnated in our daily work as acts of reckless faith. We need the Holy Spirit interpreting and acting as an intermediary to those who would deny our unity. The reward of this work is not money but in our becoming something that God can use. We are called to act because God is always working. God’s grace and wisdom are always working. God never slumbers so we are expected to choose to do something. We are required to honor the trust that God has placed in us. We are called to believe God will use our actions. Some may not work out in our life time. Here is the point. Inaction is not a faithful action. We can be assured that there will be No Harvest without Choosing to Trust Enough to Live by Faith.
Scripture: I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains. He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life!
Psalm 121:1-3a (The Message)
Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar. . . even if [the God we serve] does not [deliver us], . . . we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”
– Daniel 3:18 (NIV)
“Again, it will be like a man going on a journey, who called his servants and entrusted his wealth to them. To one he gave five bags of gold, to another two bags, and to another one bag, each according to his ability. Then he went on his journey. The man who had received five bags of gold went at once and put his money to work and gained five bags more. So also, the one with two bags of gold gained two more. But the man who had received one bag went off, dug a hole in the ground and hid his master’s money……………………..So I was afraid and went out and hid your gold in the ground. See, here is what belongs to you.’ “His master replied, ‘You wicked, lazy servant! So you knew that I harvest where I have not sown and gather where I have not scattered seed? Well then, you should have put my money on deposit with the bankers, so that when I returned I would have received it back with interest. “‘So take the bag of gold from him and give it to the one who has ten bags. For whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. And throw that worthless servant outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
Matthew 25:14-18 and 24-30 (NIV)
Message: Life is a bit of a dilemma. But getting closure on it prematurely is a disservice for the Kingdom. We have to struggle to bring out the best. We have to risk. It is a life’s work, but not all that complicated really. God only asks of us to do ordinary things but to do them extraordinarily well….to be attentive to the moment….to invest the love we have been given, to plant and invest with a trust in God to. The quest for material success misses the mark. We make a life by choosing to live by faith. Friends, depend on God.
Pray we learn to trust God…to risk enough to accept his love and not hide it. Pray we are never indifferent. Pray we have a passion to live life. Pray we realize that God’s love does not seek value but creates it. Pray we are willing to risk enough to experience something extraordinary in everyday actions.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 