Are We Having Fun Yet?
Good Morning Friends,
The day we first believed God did not bring us directly to Heaven. No we are still here on earth, left so we can be made though testing, trial, blessing and revelation more like the Lord. We are still here as His representatives to continue our education. Here we learn, guided by the Holy Spirit that all the events of our lives can work together for good. It should not be surprising to us that the Holy Spirit intercedes for us…that the God of all History works together with us in our history to share His story until even our suffering becomes a blessing. But I wonder what we have forgotten about taking the best blessings and applying them to form a more perfect union here on earth. Jesus seemed to think that if we hunger for it we might just find a way or that the answer would seek us out. I believe this is true but do not find it easy. The most challenging is discovering that even in finding the truth, it does not always come with happiness. Many of those with the best doctrine have forgotten how to love. And that presents a problem. Sin seems to always creep into the picture. But what about being a Christian seven days a week? Are We Having Fun Yet?
Scripture: [Jesus] said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest . . . to send out workers into his harvest field.”
Matthew 9:37-38 (NIV)
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Matthew 5:6 (NRSV)
We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn within a large family. And those whom he predestined he also called; and those whom he called he also justified; and those whom he justified he also glorified.
Romans 8:28-30 (NRSV)
When she got up to glean, Boaz instructed his young men, “Let her glean even among the standing sheaves, and do not reproach her. You must also pull out some handfuls for her from the bundles, and leave them for her to glean, and do not rebuke her.” So she gleaned in the field until evening. Then she beat out what she had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley. She picked it up and came into the town, and her mother-in-law saw how much she had gleaned. Then she took out and gave her what was left over after she herself had been satisfied. Her mother-in-law said to her, “Where did you glean today? And where have you worked? Blessed be the man who took notice of you.” So she told her mother-in-law with whom she had worked, and said, “The name of the man with whom I worked today is Boaz.” Then Naomi said to her daughter-in-law, “Blessed be he by the LORD, whose kindness has not forsaken the living or the dead!” Naomi also said to her, “The man is a relative of ours, one of our nearest kin.” Then Ruth the Moabite said, “He even said to me, ‘Stay close by my servants, until they have finished all my harvest.'” Naomi said to Ruth, her daughter-in-law, “It is better, my daughter, that you go out with his young women, otherwise you might be bothered in another field.” So she stayed close to the young women of Boaz, gleaning until the end of the barley and wheat harvests; and she lived with her mother-in-law.
Ruth 2:15-23(NRSV)
Message: Nothing is to be wasted in the harvest. That is God’s law as it relates to the poor in spirit as well as those who have a physical hunger. The fields are to be gleaned. Indeed this story of Ruth, for me, relates to the tomato fields in Immokalee as well as the barley harvest in Bethlehem. Here I need not imagine, for I know that many of the migrant farm worker women in Immokalee appreciate the story of Ruth. Their story also begins with a bit of tragedy. Many have lost their husbands…they too are foreigners in a foreign land. They too are in a society where women don’t get jobs and are often abused. Many live in a place of suffering…a place of doubt…a place of desperation, but have somehow learned to be content. They have learned to glean the fields for the painted tomato…the ones that are not commercially accepted by the packing houses. They have learned that working in the fields…it is a dirty, stinky job… but it is a job and selling what they have gathered in the farmer’s market is better than going hungry. Here we, who have been blessed with God’s abundance, learn that we do not need a new house. We do not need the perfect job. We do not need to be entertained. What we need is to hunger for righteousness and yes sometimes suffer for the cause of Christ alongside of our brothers and sisters. It is here we discover that most of us will never come to Jesus unless we are brought to Jesus. It is here we learn that come harvest time in a spiritually hungry land, every little bit helps, for it is here, in this time, we have been commissioned to reach out and glean the fields. Here we have been commissioned to grow our commitment to the cause into compassion. And it is here we are to be creative. Here only after we care can we connect. Here as we contemplate what it means to evangelize we are directed to engage, educate, equip, encourage, empower, energize and elevate others. Here we are to see each person and meet their need as we glean the fields. Here are called to join with Christ in turning the waste into wealth. Here we learn that being part of the greatest love story ever can be a lot of fun.
Pray that though we may not always have fun that we still have purpose that can bring joy. Pray we rejoice with thanksgiving when that purpose meets our needs and connects to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus. Pray we see those people who need to be brought to Jesus. Pray we feel their needs. Pray we experience their pain. Pray we are gripped with compassion. Pray we teach and share what has changed in us as we become passionate for praying for those who would be lost to the harvest if we did not go out to work in God’s fields. Pray
that we find blessings in the unexpected. Pray that the indwelling of the Holy Spirit would bear witness with our spirit that we are children of God. Pray that God would call us to Him according to His great purpose. Pray that we would find joy in all things because we are doing them in the presence of the Lord. Pray that our suffering would be the classroom of the Spirit, where Jesus the teacher instructs us and draws us closer to God so He can lift us to spiritual maturity. Pray that God sees His finished work in us. Pray that in Christ we are glorified. Pray we have enough fun to keep engaged and enough challenge so that we grow. Pray that we help others find the better way.
Blessings,
John Lawson
Daily Devotionals 