HOW TO BE USEFUL TO THE LORD
CHAPTER ONE
WEEK 1 - THURSDAY
Bible Reading: Mt 4:19; 8:22; 9:9; 19:21, 27; Mk 12:42, 44; Lk 9:62; Acts 1:13-14
Read and pray: “So likewise, whoever of you does not forsake all that he has cannot be My disciple.” (Lk 14:33)
THE PRICE IN THE GOSPELS:
LEAVING EVERYTHING TO FOLLOW THE LORD
The Gospels mention numerous times when the Lord called different people. Strictly speaking, the Lord’s calling is not primarily for people to be saved, but for them to follow Him. For example, there are Bible verses such as: “Come, follow Me” (Mt 4:19), “Follow Me” (9:9), “Sell your goods... then come and follow Me” (19:21), “Follow Me, and let the dead bury their own dead” (8:22), and “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Lk 9:62).
These verses repeatedly reveal to us how great the price is that must be paid by those who wish to follow the Lord. In the Gospels, the only requirement the Lord had for those called by Him was that they leave all their possessions (Lk 14:33). This was how the first disciples were called to follow the Lord. Peter said, for example, “We have left all and followed You” (Mt 19:27). “All” means “everything.” If a person with five thousand dollars offers five thousand, and another with fifty thousand dollars offers fifty thousand, then both have given everything they had to pay the price. In the eyes of the Lord, they both paid the same price.
One day, the Lord praised the widow who put two coins in the treasury because she had given all she had, even her entire livelihood (Mk 12:42, 44). Therefore, for us, paying a price does not necessarily mean investing the most, but giving all we have.
The one who gives everything is the one who pays the price. The Lord never considers what we pay. On the contrary, what He considers is whether we have given everything. The “everything” required in the Gospels is everything we have, including parents, spouse, children, brothers, sisters, house, business, academic degree, position, fame, preferences, ambitions, and life. All these items are the price required in the Gospels.
Many of us today, however, have not severed relationships with relatives. This does not mean we should visibly break off all human relationships. On the contrary, it means we should sever all emotional ties. In summary, the Lord desires that we give up everything we have. This is the hardest demand He has for us.
Every time we touch the Lord, He will require something from us. It will always be like this. The Lord is never satisfied with the price we have already paid: Every time He touches us, He will ask for something. We experience the most visible presence of the Lord when He requires something from us. From our side, the only time we do not realize that He is requiring something of us is when we lose our fellowship with Him. From the Lord’s side, His demands will cease only when the new heaven and the new earth are established.
Today is the time for the Lord to use man and win him to do His work. As a result, He will continue to require something from us, and His requirements will grow. At first, the Lord’s requirements are small, but gradually they become larger, deeper, and more difficult. If we try to suppress the sense that He is requiring something from us, we will suffer great loss because our fellowship with Him will be interrupted. After a long time, the Lord will no longer be able to do His will in us, and as a result, He will be forced to turn to someone else. However, if we agree to His requirements, if we learn to obey, and if we are willing to pay the price, our sense will become more and more sensitive, to the point where we feel almost all day long that the Lord is asking something from us.
If we do not cooperate with His requirements and are not willing to pay the price, there will be two results. First, from our side, we will be like the young man who went away sorrowful (Mt 19:22). Second, from the Lord’s side, He will not be able to manifest our usefulness to Him. For this reason, we would rather make mistakes trying to obey than completely disobey, and it is better to obey too much than too little. If we respond to the Lord’s requirements, there will also be two results. First, we will be filled with joy, and second, the Lord will be able to manifest our usefulness.
We must realize that the basic requirement to be used by the Lord is to agree with His demands. A person who agrees with the Lord’s demands can be used by Him even if they do not have great knowledge of the truth. They can still be used by the Lord even if they do not pray frequently. The power we receive when we pay the price to respond to the Lord’s demands is often greater than through numerous prayers.
The power we receive when we pay the price to respond to the Lord’s demands is often greater than through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. People pay attention to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, but they do not see that, on the day of Pentecost, those who received the outpouring of the Holy Spirit paid a high price. They left everything to be in the upper room in Jerusalem and continued in prayer with one accord (Acts 1:13-14).
Many people would like to receive the power generated by the outpouring of the Spirit, yet they are not willing to learn the lesson of paying the price. For this reason, they do many works, but their works cannot last and do not have lasting effect. If the worker wants their work to continue and endure for a long time, they must learn the lesson of paying the price. The permanence of a work depends on how much the worker has learned this lesson. The power to do the Lord’s work is in learning this lesson, and for that, one must pay a price. A person’s usefulness before the Lord is based on the price they have paid before the Lord.
We all admire the way people like Paul and Peter were useful to the Lord, yet we forget that they paid a high price before the Lord. If we are not useful to the Lord today, the only reason for that is that we are not willing to pay a price, we are not willing to respond to His demands, and we are not willing to give up our reputation, education, position, future, and all our life. For this reason, we do not feel the Lord’s presence, we rarely have contact with Him in fellowship, and naturally, we have little usefulness before Him.
Enjoy more: Hymn S-1
No comments:
Post a Comment