ads
Breakfast With the Word Saturday First Week of Advent
Matthew 9:35-10:1,5,6-8
Harvest literally means the time of gathering, reaping and collecting farm of products. Then “Rich” is used to describe something that is abundant. It means there is enough to reap.
God’s harvest is rich means that in God’s vineyard, there is enough work to do. Therefore, there is no limitation. There are enough souls to touch, a lot of lives to change, a lot of souls to console etc.
In God’s vineyard, there are still many souls that need words of repentance and change. Many people need your prayers. Many of them need encouragement.
Therefore, God’s vineyard needs more of you, it needs even the little thing you can offer. The harvest is rich but the harvest needs workers who are willing to work.
We do not need to envy others. There is someone who needs that small thing you can offer. Therefore, in God’s vineyard, there is enough for everyone.
Read More
Do You Believe I Can Do This?Friday First Week of Advent
When Jesus is the Foundation: Breakfast with the Word
In the Gospel.
In today’s gospel, Jesus made a tour through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the Good News of the kingdom and curing all kinds of diseases and sickness.
When Jesus sees the crowds he feels sorry for them because they were like people harassed and dejected, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, ‘The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.’
What happens is that, at the time of Jesus, the jews are under Roman domination, and then they pay taxes to Rome. Despite this, most of the tax collectors burden the people with more than the required taxes.
Secondly, even the Pharisees burden the people with many laws. So, the people look so depressed.
There was hunger, suffering and hardship everywhere, this underscores the reason many of them were following Jesus because they see in Jesus a person who could solve their problems, the messiah to come. And the bible says that when Jesus saw them, He was moved with pity.
First of all, this shows the type of heart Jesus has. When Jesus sees you struggling, do not think He is keeping quiet. When we come to His presence, He will always give us the strength to undergo that difficulty.
So, when Jesus saw the crowd, he told his disciples “The harvest is rich but the labourers are few, so ask the Lord of the harvest to send labourers to his harvest.
There Is More to Do.
When Jesus says that the harvest is rich, it reveals that there are many things to be done in God’s vineyard.
The problem is not that there is no work. The problem is not that there are limited things we can do.
The real problem is that few people are willing to do this work for God. Few people are willing to do this work from their heart.
Therefore there are many souls to convert. There is a lot of work waiting for us. Many people are seeking God daily, the question for us today is “are we willing to come out of our shelf and work for God willingly?
There are people around you whose spiritual lives have waned. There are people around you who are suffering and passing through difficulties.
We also have some people who are seriously sick in the hospitals, Many homes are broken, many families are in crisis etc. How are we going to reach out to these souls?
sponsored
Like what happened in today’s reading. Many souls are hungry for God? Can we make ourselves available and living instruments for God’s use.
God needs sincere, dedicated and available servants who are willing to touch lives. This is the reason He was addressing His disciples particularly.
What We Need to Do.
In the gospel, Jesus summoned his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits with the power to cast them out and to cure all kinds of diseases and sicknesses.
Jesus instructs them as follows: ‘Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. And as you go, proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is close at hand.
Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils. You receive without charge, give without charge.’The points here are:
1. Let us always remember that as Jesus sends His disciples to the lost tribe of Israel, He also sends us.
There is a reason you are where you are today, this is the first thing we have to note. God may have allowed you to be born in your family to bring peace, healing and love to them always. But sometimes, instead of doing that, we are doing the opposite.
Also, God may have brought you to a place to touch the lives of those around that place, but we are busy seeking what to gain.
Also, God may have sent you to a person as a friend but instead of changing the lives of the person to good, you are leading the soul to damnation. There is a purpose for where you are. That reason is for the salvation of their souls.
2. Secondly, Jesus says that you receive without charge, therefore, give without charge. In essence, God has blessed us with gifts, talents, strength, wisdom, resources etc.
Our gift back to God is how we use these gifts. It is how we can use these gifts from Him in working for His kingdom.
Therefore, We must not put a price on everything. There must not be something to gain before we work for God. Work for God freely and willingly from your heart.
The Reason God sends You.
In the gospel, Jesus sends the disciples to the lost sheep of the tribe of Israel.
Therefore, The mission is to the lost.
Therefore, let us always know that we have the missionary mandate to seek out souls who may have lost faith in God.
We have the mandate to seek souls that have lost faith because of one problem other another. You are where you are to mend, to bring love, to correct, to bring back souls who went astray and to be God’s instrument to them.
Secondly, Jesus tells the disciples to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out devils.
Therefore, our mission is to save lives and not to destroy them. We have to bring healing to broken hearts through our prayers and words of admonition. Then we have to cleanse the sinners by bringing them to Jesus.
Finally, Jesus sends them out in pairs. This shows that in this work, we have to help each other. It is not a one man’s work.
Be an encouragement to your brother. It also means that in God’s harvest, there is no need for unhealthy competition.
There is much work to do. Do not be jealous. Jealousy breeds hatred and unnecessary competition. The Harvest is always plenty.
Sometimes we forget that there are many things to be done but we spend more time developing jealousy and hatred for the people who are trying to use their gifts.
Paul took time to explain in 1 Corinthians 12 that though we are one body, there are many gifts quite abundant and enough for everyone and all for the building of the same body in Christ.
The Harvest belongs to God . It is not ours. We are only mere instruments used by God.
Therefore, Any position, gift, talent, service we possess were given to us by God. There is no need to compete with anyone. Use what you have for the glory of God.
To do this, what we need most is the grace of God. Let us always go to the Lord of the harvest to fill us with the graces and strength necessary for the work. He is willing if we are willing.
May He bless you dearest and help us to find what to do and do it with all our hearts. Amen
sponsored
