I understand what my responsibilities for today are, and so do you.
We understand them (and sometimes we buck them), but most of our responsibilities in a day...we do them. Our career, laundry, yard work, bills, house work, meals, appointments, parenting, walking/feeding the dog/pets, being a good spouse, taking the trash out, etc....
We know and understand our secular responsibilities...but what have we done to uphold our spiritual responsibility to the Lord today, and in working hard to persuade others to Him?
Ouch. Not sure most of us (me!) touch on this responsibility in a regular way.
But the Bible reminds us (fairly forcefully) today of Paul's example in understanding this responsibility and how he and the other Believers with him embraced it, entered into it...and lived it.
Help us to get to that place and understanding today, Lord. Amen.
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Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. ~II Corinthians 5:11
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Do we understand?
God is asking that question of us today.
Do we understand that it IS our fearful responsibility to the Lord to work hard to persuade others about His hope, His love, His saving grace and about the eternity we (or they) will experience without Him if we are not persuaded?
Do we understand?
And Paul phrases it correctly and eloquently, but at the same time with the force necessary when he says that it is our "fearful responsibility".
Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. ~II Corinthians 5:11
"Our fearful"---(we should have fear if we don't do what God has told us to) responsibility:
- Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. (19) Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (20) Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” ~Matthew 28:18-20
- But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth. ~Exodus 9:16
When my siblings and I were growing up and our dad told us to do something...we did it. Mostly because we loved my dad and respected him, but (let's be honest), there was some healthy fear in there too. The Bible says that a father's authority should be over the home (I Timothy 3:4-5), and my dad's was. There was consequence in not obeying him.
The same (but multiplied due to His holiness) idea applies to our Heavenly Father. God loves us more than we can know (Jeremiah 31:3). He sent His Son to die for our sins (John 3:16). He has a good plan for each of our lives (Jeremiah 29:11) from the moment that we are conceived (Psalm 139:13).
As Believers, we love God. We respect God. And we had better have a healthy fear of God. There will be consequence in not obeying him.
Lord, we want to obey You. Help us today to accept, embrace and to understand our fearful responsibility to You. Amen.
Paul and his Believer-buddies understood their fearful responsibility to the Lord and in persuading others to Him.
Oh, I'm not persuasive...we say.
But we can talk ourselves into a "sale" price, or explain-the-benefits of this product/feature/amenity...if we desire it.
Kids don't have to be taught how to persuade others, just listen to a child attempting to convince a parent of a sleepover, or to buy an ice cream cone.
I worked in admissions at a women's college for almost ten years. Selling a female-environment to a highschool girl takes persuading.
It's in us to persuade others if we want to, and if we believe in what we are persuading for.
Praying today that our lives have been changed and affected enough by the Lord that we want to work hard to persuade others.
Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. ~II Corinthians 5:11
So, let's do it.
Paul and his Believer-buddies did it, and we can too. They understood that they were Christ's ambassadors. We are too.
For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
(20) So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
(21) For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ. ~II Corinthians 5:19-21
That's the message. That's the wonderful message of reconciliation.
Do we understand today that it's our fearful responsibility to the Lord to work hard to persuade (share!) it with others? (II Corinthians 5:11).
We are Christ’s ambassadors! I can't believe it most days, but it is true. He chose me and He chose you. God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (II Corinthians 5:20).
Sure, sure, we have many responsibilities today. But mowing the lawn or balancing our checkbook won't matter half as much (or at all) in eternity. God would rather...and it is our fearful responsibility to the Lord, that we share the eternal hope of Christ (persuading others) with His lost sheep.
Lord, help us to understand this responsibility and to embrace it, enter into it...and live it today! Amen.
sarah
https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com
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