PREPARE FOR JESUS' RETURN
I began this a couple of weeks ago, and just felt that it needed finishing.
Still reading 1 Corinthians – this week I’ve read chapter 4.
What I have understood is that we are not only God’s servants, but more importantly, we are stewards of his messages – sent to us with love.
Now a steward is not lightly chosen. If you have something precious to you and you cannot take it with you everywhere you go, you choose someone to look after it for you whilst you are busy with life. We put our wishes for things that are important to us in a will and put them in the hands of a solicitor or other person we trust , so that when the time comes, we trust that our wishes will be followed. A steward is someone we put our trust in. How disappointing would it be to be let down?
God made this earth and was very pleased with it. He put us in charge of it and made us stewards of it – how good are we at looking after it?
We are also stewards of the gospel from God. According to Paul in 4:1 in my bible, (Revised Standard version), it says,
“This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and *stewards of the mysteries of God.”
Mysteries because before Jesus, these things were hidden from view, but now the veil has been torn and Jesus made things more clear. (Well as clear as our understanding allows!)
*[The word stewards here is the Greek word Oikonomos which means; the manager of a household/a manager, trustee/a public steward/a spiritual steward, the holder of a commission in the service of the gospel].
The disciples were made stewards of the good news that Jesus is risen, and through Him we are made new! Their commission was to spread the good news as Jesus had taught them, in his actions, words and prayers. And this is passed down from generation to generation of believers.
So, how do we do that now? There is an assumption that to do this, we must stand on our soap boxes and shout to those passing by, but that is not the case. Certainly there are times when that is relevant and I admire anyone who can do that, but as for the rest of us, we can make personal efforts to take care of our world, like recycling or preferably, though very difficult these days, to avoid using things which we know are harmful to the environment, and with our faith, we can also, in a casual, friendly manner, talk about our faith in Jesus to those we meet every day.
This is not as easy as it sounds for those of us who are timid. When I first believed, I was eager to tell people, but soon learned to ‘keep my opinions to myself.’ Its only as I’ve got older, and with a lot of prayer, that nowadays, I am not so easily put off.
I think the secret is to copy Jesus. He spoke what he felt, but, did not stand and argue with those who disagreed with him. This only leads to a battle of words that does no good to the speaker or the listener. He said what was needed, with love, then walked away. I think the only time he got angry was when he went to the Synagogue and found it had become a marketplace full of people making money from the faith of others – even the poor! He was disappointed with them because they were the religious leaders and stewards of God's word. Sadly, that happens still, but Jesus knows who really believes and who doesn’t! (Matthew 7:21-23).
It’s not just speaking that matters though. It’s what you do. Do you live the message? Do you pray? do you help others? Do you Praise God, even when life is difficult? Can others see Jesus in you, and do you walk as he did? Do you take a step of faith and trust in Him even when things look dark? All these things that are so easy to say in a message, but do we really live them? I know I fail him often, and I know I cannot do it on my own - I need his help and his forgiveness - every day. But I think about Revelations 20:12 which says when the book of life is opened, the **dead will be judged according to their **deeds, and I remember that we should be preparing for Jesus' return....it could be at any time!
**(in the Greek the word dead here means without life/ dead to a thing/no longer devoted to or under the influence of a thing. And the word deeds here means, ‘anything done or to be done/a deed, work, action).
I’m sure I don’t do nearly as much as I should, but I hope that I am a reasonably good steward of God’s message. And even if I make some mistakes, I know Jesus has paid the price for them, so I do not need to worry. I pray that nothing I say will be responsible for turning people away from God, but instead will, in some way, encourage people to search for Him themselves and be saved.
This is how I understand my God, (sorry its a bit of a long one today),
read for yourself, see what you think.
* & ** see Mounce reverse interlinear New Testament