As this new year starts, many are thinking about the year ahead and worry about what 2020 may bring.  Here are a few words from Jesus:

² And He said to His disciples, “For this reason I say to you, ^[j]do not worry about your ^[k]life, as to what you will eat; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. ²³ For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. ²⁴ Consider the ravens, for they neither sow nor reap; they have no storeroom nor barn, and yet God feeds them; how much more valuable you are than the birds! ²⁵ And which of you by worrying can add a single ^[l]hour to his ^[m]life’s span? ²⁶ If then you cannot do even a very little thing, why do you worry about other matters? ²⁷ Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; but I tell you, not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these. ²⁸ But if God so clothes the grass in the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, how much more will He clothe you? You men of little faith! ²⁹ And do not seek what you will eat and what you will drink, and do not keep worrying. ³⁰ For ^[n]all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. ³¹ But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you. 

Luke 12:22-31, New American Standard Bible

As you look back over 2019 take a few moments to be thankful.  For God, family, this great country of ours, and all the little things that made up your year.  If your life is like mine, there were highs and lows.  Times you wondered whether you would get through this hurdle.  But you did.  You’re here reading this short post.  Take a few moments to reflect and gain a little bit of peace in God.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:6-7

In Matthew 9 we read the following:

³⁵ And Jesus went about all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every sickness and every disease among the people. ³⁶ But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. ³⁷ Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; ³⁸ Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.

The work of the laborer to bring in the harvest in the time of Jesus was a long day of hard,physically demanding work. Nonetheless, it needed to be done in a timely manner lest the harvest be lost and all the work that went into producing the harvest be lost as well.

In 1 John 4 we read of God’s great love for each of us. A love so great that He sent His only begotten Son as a laborer into the fields of our world.

⁷ Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸ He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.

As Jesus was moved with compassion when he looked out over the multitude scattered, lost without a shepherd, we should also be moved by compassion when we look out over the harvest set before us. Can we love great enough to go into the fields and do the hard work so that the harvest is not lost? Pray and be mindful of those who labor in the harvest. 

Jesus came to make a very important personal call to you and I (Matthew 9:11-13):

¹¹ And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? ¹² But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. ¹³ But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

His call to each of us also included a warning (Luke 13:3):

³ I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

He desires that each of us heed his call (1 Timothy 2:3-6):

³ For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; ⁴ Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; ⁶ Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

Paul explains in his letter to the church in Phillippi, Philippians 2:5-8, that this ransom was the death of Christ Jesus, the son of God, on the cross:

⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: ⁶ Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: ⁷ But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: ⁸ And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Our answer to this call is life changing (Galatians 2:20) 

²⁰ I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

 

Love demands more of us than a warm feeling. It often demands sacrificial actions towards those we declare to love.  

To declare love is to act sacrificially.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)

To show love is to act sacrificially.

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.” (John 14:15)     

God has challenged us to live a sacrificial life where our desires are sacrificed to His commandments. Our declared love of God must be  demonstrated through our actions. We can choose what we want or what God wants.

 

Although keeping God’s commandments will require earthly sacrifices it will yield heavenly rewards.  

He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21)

If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. (John 15:10)