In the course of my work day I am in a position to bless many people without them ever having to know who I am. I’m a familiar face to them after a while, but they still don’t know me, and best part is they don’t need to. Those who look my way as they come and go, recognize me, and the smile on their face as they come or as they go let’s me know at times that I’ve blessed them in some way.
This daily experience has been a lesson for my private life as well. What I have to say and do doesn’t depend on WHO I AM, it depends on who I am doing it for. Who am I trying to please?
In Matthew 25:31-46 there is a scenario described by Jesus of the final judgment day. “The least of these” are described in detail. In our times things haven’t changed much. They are the hungry, or thirsty. They are strangers. The naked, or imprisoned, or sick. Any of these are the kind of people who can do nothing to help themselves, nor help you. Helping them out won’t result in them doing anything in return for you.
Yet, none of the least of these would interrupt your giving them a cup of cold water, something to eat, or some warm clothing on a cold winter’s day – to ask you “Who do you think you are?” But if they did, I could say, “nobody in particular, God loves you, and he sent me along to give you a drink.”
But if there’s a word of encouragement, or exhortation, then there’d quite possibly be that question, “just who do you think you are?” and the message itself would be, “if it’s the truth, and God would have you hear it, take it up with him, as for me, I’m nobody in particular, just one who is obedient to his call.”
I’m inspired by Jesus’ example as told to us in the gospel of John,
“But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people”
John 2:24 ESV
And Isaiah:
“Stop regarding man in whose nostrils is breath, for of what account is he?”
Isaiah 2:22 ESV
I’ve been on holiday from the ‘talking’ about my life and focusing on the ‘doing’… but I’ve also been regularly feeding on a wider source of knowledge. I can’t even remember if I’ve talked about this in previous blogs, but I’ll come back and add them if anyone cares to remind me. For much of my life I read only the bible. I’ve always blamed anxiety is the basic culprit. Because I was afraid that my mind would be stolen from me if I read mere human writings. I trusted the bible, thanks to my parents, who were so diligent in getting us to a bible preaching church. As a result of that anxiety I know my bible very well. Books like “How To Read The Bible For All It’s Worth” and my year in Bible school, which included church history and biblical Greek, all helped me. Another thing that helped me is when Cheryl and I attended a church, and the pastor’s preaching was so hard to bear, that I looked to other sources. I found one website that had free Mp3’s of all kinds of preachers. Even one radio show where they read the sermons of Charles Spurgeon. Another preacher, Earl Palmer, I found when researching what was meant by expository preaching. WOW! What a treasure trove of sermons there! One of the many things gained from him was his reading outside of the bible, and integrating what he read with the word of God. That’s where I found One Day In The Life of Ivan Denisovich, and Les Miserable. This method opened the door for me to venture out into the world of secular literature! Another thing that I gained from Palmer is his constant reference to Jesus Christ as the Centre of the Bible.
One thing that’s sorta obvious about reading secular literature is that God isn’t mentioned, or if he is mentioned, it’s in general terms.
