Beloved: grace, mercy and peace to you from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord. I am glad to welcome you to the last Sunday of this month and pray that God will teach and strengthen your heart to live responsibly in all your relationships and affairs this week and throughout the remaining part of your earthly life, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
From what we see in Scriptures, God does not want His children to be lazy but to be diligent in handling all their duties. But in order for this to be a reality in each of us, we must first know what our duties are. If we do not know what our duties are, then, we will most likely do nothing about handling them. Then, apart from knowing what our duties are, we must also have a high sense of duty. It is one thing for one to know their responsibilities; it is another thing for them to accept them and begin to labour to handle them.
So, ask yourself, “What are my responsibilities in this life? Do I know them? If I know them, what am I doing to handle them?” As we are shown in Scriptures, the key to knowing and appreciating our various responsibilities in this world is to take God seriously. What I am saying is that our first and main responsibility in this life is to take God seriously and to live to please Him. This is why Solomon says, “Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man.” (Eccl 12:13NIV)
Did you see that? Our main responsibility in this life is to live in the fear of God and keep His commandments. So, if you are not living in reverence of God and on the basis of His word, you are not living responsibly. Yes, there may be areas of your life in which you are acting responsibly. But until you begin to take God seriously in your life, there is no way you can be responsible in all ways. That is because it is as we take God seriously that our minds are gradually taught to recognize everything we are meant to be responsible for in this life and to handle it with care and diligence.
For instance, God, through His word, shows us what our responsibilities must be to ourselves and our wives, husbands, children, parents, governments, neighbours and fellow believers. Then He further shows us that it is as we relate responsibly to ourselves and all these groups of people that we show that we truly take Him seriously. Unfortunately, many, because they are not learning from God, do not understand this. So, they don’t take their responsibilities to God and to men seriously at all. They just go through life lazily and continually seek ways to make others responsible for what they are supposed to do for themselves, their families and their society.
Then we have those who keep making the grave mistake of using their devotion to handling certain forms of responsibilities of thiers as an excuse for failing to handle others. For example, there are those who use their devotion to God as an excuse for failing in their responsibilities to their spouses. And they forget that the same God they are labouring to serve is clear about how they are to relate to their spouses. Then we also have those who use their devotion to their jobs and to making money available for their families as an excuse for being irresponsible in taking care of their children or in giving themselves to serve God. But even though God wants us all to be involved in one form of legitimate labour or the other, He does not want us to use this as an excuse for not making ourselves available for Him to use to bless others or as an excuse for abandoning the proper upbringing of our children. Instead, He wants us to be orderly enough to diligently handle everything that He will eventually hold us responsible for.
Paul says this to Timothy: “Stand steady, and don’t be afraid of suffering for the Lord. Bring others to Christ. Leave nothing undone that you ought to do.” (2Tim 4:5TLB) Did you see that? This man of God tells Timothy to leave nothing undone that he ought to do. Now even though what he says here is fundamentally about this man’s ministry, the principle is applicable to all of life. We must leave nothing undone that we ought to do, for God will be holding us accountable someday for whatever He sees as our responsibilities to handle. So, first, be diligent about learning from God what your responsibilities in life are. Then, second, make up your mind that you are going to take advantage of God’s grace to fully discharge whatever your duties may be, whether to yourself, to other people or to God. And may God grant you orderliness in your life, so that you will not leave undone anything you are expected to do.
Do have a great week.
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By: J.O. Lawal | Date: August 30, 2020 | Series: From Pastor’s Desk | Number: Vol. 9, No. 17