Straining Towards the Goal 2

So, how do you strain towards fellowship without allowing sin to wreck that fellowship? Be others centered. I had just finished reading an incredible book by Elisa Morgan called “ She did what she could.” In it she relates the story of Mary of Bethany and her anointing of Jesus’ head with nard in an act of worship. The recording of the passage says  that Jesus commended this young woman for her act and because “ she did what she could”, her name would be mentioned every time the gospel was preached. She then talked about the best way to help change the world was not to get bogged down in the horrendous events of the day ( ie. Haiti), but in helping the every day people Jesus puts in our path. Every day that we hear of tremendous situations, it is easy to want to give up hope. Isaiah 58: 10-11 says “and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday.

 11 The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail.” Focusing on others is what gets you through the day. Its what gets people one step closer to the Kingdom that is available to them in the here and now. We have the power to change the world! This is the hope! That is how we strain! That is how we press on! The more we focus on ourselves, and focus on meeting our own needs rather than the needs of others, the more likely it is for sin to abound. That is how we fellowship with Jesus. Matthew 25:32-40 says “Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me. 37" Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'" The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me’. That is fellowship with the Lord. Your schools. Your homes. Your workplaces. Your children. That is the mission field that God is placed you in. That is the place where the sun scorched land gets that water that it needs.