The Lord has been teaching us some really cool stuff and I just wanted to share!!
Ben and I are reading through Matthew right now and I feel like, though it is stuff I have read a million times, the Lord is showing it to me in a whole new light! The other night we were talking about Matthew 4, which could be an entire year of study in itself, but we really focused in on the part where Jesus calls his first disciples. We were drawn to it for obvious reasons but what stuck out to us the most was actually not the “Come, follow me” part, although no one can overlook that. What we were captivated by was how Jesus called them. The passage first tells us that the men were fishermen and then that Jesus calls them and tell them that he is going to teach them how to fish for men. He doesn’t tell them that he is going to rework their DNA and turn them into doctors to heal the sick, or lawyers to defend the unjust or even rabbi’s to teach the Scriptures, though he could have. No the God of the universe goes to these men, calls them to follow him and teaches them how to do that in their own language using their own profession.
And guess what…God still does this! Think about your gifts, your vocations. Are you the doctor at heart, maybe Jesus calls you to heal the physically sick and in addition teaches you to heal the spiritually sick you encounter. Are you the lawyer? Maybe Jesus calls you to defend the orphans and widows and at the same time to seek out injustice in your community and do something about it! Are you a teacher, do you love to see students learn? God might just be calling you to extend that passion into his work, the work of teaching people about himself and His goodness!
This gets me so excited!! How awesome that we have a God that doesn’t need us to accomplish anything, but chooses to bless us with strengths and gifts so that we CAN be a part of His work here on earth…what a privilege!!
Earlier this week we got to visit Ben’s parent’s small group as they were studying chapter 4 in the book Radical by David Platt (if you haven’t read it, I highly recommend it!). The point of this chapter is to remind us that we are called to a global purpose, to glorify God in all of the nations. I can’t sum it up better than he does in the chapter but basically the idea is that wherever you are, whatever you do, God commands us to think about the entire world and how you can extend His glory in it using the gifts, strengths and circumstances that He has given you. I love it because it wasn’t all, or even mostly, about people who picked up and moved internationally to share the gospel…it was about people who recognized that taking the gospel to the nations is not a calling for a few, but a commandment for all, and are reordering their lives, wherever they are, to obey Jesus.
This week I am really going to begin to check out what this can look like in every aspect of my life. From how I treat my family to the way I care for the physical world God has given us, from the way I relate to those in my immediate community to the way I can have an impact on the starving children of the world- there is a lot to do! How awesome that God gives us all the privilege and responsibility to be a part of it!!
As always I am praying and thanking God for each and every one of you! I’d love to be able to pray specifically for you all, email me at sarah.stewart89@gmail.com and let me know how I can do that!!
