Good morning and welcome in everybody. Today, we are going to take a look at a passage of scripture, but before we do that, I wanted to tell you a little story.
Up here in our neck of the woods we have been known at times to get some pretty heavy snowfalls during the winter, which means that more than likely, somebody will have to put on some warm clothes and go outside to shovel off the sidewalk and the driveway. But how many times have you told your son to get it all done before supper, but when you went outside to check on him, you found the shovel stuck in the snowbank and he was nowhere to be found? He had completely forsaken what he was supposed to be doing, and then walked down to the lake to go ice fishing instead!
This reminds me of the Christian Life.
The Lord Jesus was constantly calling out to men to preach, but for most of them, their hearts were far more concerned about worldly things instead. Rather than keeping their attention focused on fulfilling His Divine calling, their love for the world was greater, resulting in the complete abandonment of their duties.
Luke 9:59-62 (KJB) And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house. And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
Over the years, I’ve hired a lot of different people to come and work at job sites, but sometimes there will be a few of them who will come for a short period of time but then don’t bother to show up any more. They will walk off on their job duties without any notice or even giving you a phone call. This is extremely upsetting, because you put a lot of faith and trust in them that they were going to tow the line, but then they basically left you hanging out to dry. The Apostle Paul put a lot of trust in men such as Timothy and other ministers that they were going to complete the task that he had given them, because he wasn’t there all of the time. Sometimes when you hire an assistant manager, you might feel comfortable enough to take the weekend off, but then they don’t show up which is very disheartening to those who chose them. Remember that through the grace of our precious Lord Jesus, the Apostle Paul was given an incredible opportunity to preach and teach the things of God, but you know what? He ran with it, and was eager to please! During the numerous years following his conversion, he proved himself worthy to God as a faithful minister of Jesus Christ. He knew the incredible opportunity that he had been granted, and jumped into that position with both feet.
1 Timothy 1:12 (KJB) And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
The Apostle Paul commends many other men who were faithful Ministers of Christ and were getting the job done.
Ephesians 6:21 (KJB) But that ye also may know my affairs, and how I do, Tychicus, a beloved brother and faithful minister in the Lord, shall make known to you all things:
Colossians 1:7 (KJB) As ye also learned of Epaphras our dear fellowservant, who is for you a faithful minister of Christ;
Colossians 4:7 (KJB) All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you, who is a beloved brother, and a faithful minister and fellowservant in the Lord:
How many of you have been in a bind and really needed someone to help you out, but when you called them on the phone, they were just too busy to come to your aid? How many of you have asked your son to help you with something out in the garage, but he told you that he had some other things planned for the afternoon instead?
The reason why the laborers are few in regards to preaching the Christian faith, is because other things become more important to them than the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s no wonder why the first commandment is to love God with all of your heart and soul and mind, because if He isn’t your first and greatest love, men are never going to preach, and that’s the truth. Without a genuine love for Him, the duties to become His faithful servant will be set on the back burner in order to do something else instead.
It is a love for God that caused John the Baptist to preach.
It is a love for God that caused Peter and the disciples to preach.
It is a love for God that caused Paul to preach.
When a love for the concerns of this world outweighs one’s love for Christ Jesus, then that soul becomes unfit for the kingdom of God. Remember what happened to Lot’s wife who half-heartedly left Sodom and Gomorrah, but then longingly looked back. When she did this, she was destroyed by God. This is one of the reasons why the laborers are few, because their hearts are distracted with worldly concerns. Why worry about dead relatives who never bothered to repent? Let the impenitent bury them and go and preach the Word!
Matthew 21:28-32 (KJB) But what think ye? A certain man had two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not: but afterward he repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir: and went not. Whether of them twain did the will of his father? They say unto him, The first. Jesus saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you. For John came unto you in the way of righteousness, and ye believed him not: but the publicans and the harlots believed him: and ye, when ye had seen it, repented not afterward, that ye might believe him.
How many of you have been getting air at the gas station when somebody else parked on top of the hose, but after a short period of time you realized that nothing was going into the tire at all. To grow in our faith, God’s Word needs to flow easily into our hearts, but when someone’s attention becomes diverted to the things of this world, these temporal concerns will begin to cut into your time, and slowly begin to choke off the Word of God in your life. Like telling your neighbor to move their car, we must remove all of the desires and lusts for the things of this world, so that the fresh air of God’s truth can flow freely into our hearts.
Matthew 13:22 (KJB) He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful.
Preaching God’s Word is the most important thing that anybody can do with their life, but for a lot of men, the things of this world will take precedence over completing His will. Like sticking the shovel into the snowbank, many of them will walk off on their duties to God and forsake the one who died for them on the cross. Rather than serving Him by feeding His sheep, their loving attention will turn to other things, such as sitting out in the middle of the lake, baiting a hook, and spending all day,,…
……..Ice Fishing
Let’s think about these things for right now. We can be found on your web browser by searching, tlkjbc where you can find our diaries distributed through various platforms. We are not associated, nor affiliated with any other religious groups. You can get our entire podcast feeds directly, along with transcripts at tlkjbc.com or I suppose that you could find us somewhere up here, in the Great Northern Minnesota woods. Peace to you all, and Lord willing, we will talk with you some more tomorrow. Till then, bye bye everybody.♥️
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