Cry aloud spare not, lift up your voice like a
trumpet and show my people their transgression the house of Jacob their sins.
Isaiah 58:1.
All through earth’s history, the
people of Yahweh, strayed from the principles the Creator give to live by; at
times we make a conscious decision to satisfy the desires of the flesh; as a
result we fell into open rebellion against our Creator. At other times, we
become victims of the ease and conveniences; while others become busy with the
work of the Lord that they neglect to maintain and develop their personal
relationship with Jesus. When we neglect out relationship with our redeemer,
our communication with him become blurred and our ability to make sound
spiritual decision is severely hampered. Unfortunately; when such things
happen, we are the last person to know.
In
Matt. 21: 12 - 13, the local merchants crowded the courtyard of the temple with
their tables of trade. Each table was strategically position to help worshipers
with the daily temple sacrifices and offerings. The services these men of trade
provided was an essential one, it took every excuse an individual may come up
with, not to perform the appropriate sacrifice, present the appropriate offering
at the appropriate time. The services provided by the men of trade were not bad
or wrong, as a matter of fact; such services were essential to the community.
Although such service helped Yahweh’s chosen people to comply with his command
as it related to sacrifices and giving offerings; the location they choose to carry
out their trade desecrated the temple of the Almighty God.
Like
the moneychangers in Jesus' day, we must be careful that our good intention and
the vital service we provide are not at the expense of desecrating God’s holy
law. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy; this is Yahweh’s command. The
Sabbath day is an opportunity for us to pay tribute and recognized Yahweh as
the awesome CREATOR that he is. But
what is holiness as it relates to Sabbath keeping? Jesus in his quest to lend
clarity to this subject asked: “which of you having a lamb that falls into a
pit ‘on the Sabbath day’ will not retrieve it”, then he declared; “it is lawful
to do good on the Sabbath day:” Matt. 12: 10 - 12, Mark 3: 2 – 4. However, this
principle is not applicable across the board. It is good to tackle those
critical needs and perform those vital Christian services to our fellow men
whose needs may have just arisen or those needs we have just learn of. It is a
desecration of Yahweh God’s holy Sabbath, if we consciously neglect to perform
those known act of Christian service, because it was not convenient to do so
during the six days of work, wherein the Lord God have provide for us to do
such.
We
must learn from the mistakes of Israel and be careful that in our efforts and
enthusiasm to be different that our actions do not misrepresent the King of kings.
If we ought to be effective; our “witness”
must be clear and free from contradictions. We cannot afford to become
stumbling blocks in the way of the people we are attempting to serve but most
of all, we must never risk compromising the standards and principle of Yahweh,
by sending the wrong messages to our target community.
We
must always keep in the forefront of our consciousness, the fact that we are
not independent contractors in the
salvation of lost humanity; therefore, we should not allow ourselves to become
neglectful in our rush to do the work of the lord. We must always proceed
carefully and prayerfully, never forgetting that we are co-laborer with Jesus
Christ for the salvation of lost souls. We ought to always listen attentively,
follow the leading of the Holy Spirit and the reveal will of Yahweh. We must
never forget the Holy Spirit will never lead us against the will of Yahweh, or
upon the gray or ambiguous areas of Yahweh’s words thus enticing us to betray
our consciences.
In
such cases, the Holy Spirit will find applicable and practical way of teaching
willing heart, the spiritual lessons we need to learn. Although we do not know
what tomorrow holds, there is one thing we can be sure of: if Yahweh leads us
into the valley of uncertainty, there could be only one outcome: victory for
his faithful children.
Some will have us to
believe; faithfulness is demonstrated in how loud we can shout the word but
true faithfulness is exhibited in how well we live the word. It is with living
that we become effective witnesses for the cause of Christ. To the unbeliever,
our words are like a gentle wind that cools the soul, but an unambiguous exhibition of a godly life lived, is like an
invitation into the very presence of the Almighty God himself.
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