Wednesday: 5th September, 2018
Reference text: Luke 4:38-44
Luke 4:42 At daybreak, Jesus went out to a solitary place. The people were looking for him and when they came to where he was, they tried to keep him from leaving them.
One of the most difficult relationships to break is one in which either only one party benefits and the other isn’t harmed, or one in which both parties stand to gain something; ecologists will refer to these as commensalism and mutualism respectively. In a way, what we see in the Gospel of today seemed mutual- the people received their healing and Jesus in turn received fame, a win-win for all.
However, Jesus saw it as more than a two way tie – thus, He refused their invitation to stay because by his definition, staying would be a win-lose-lose. With these words: ‘And he said unto them, I must preach the kingdom of God to other cities also: for therefore am I sent’ (Lk. 4:43), He made it clear that even though his choice to stay will benefit those asking him to, others will miss out and He will be off track with his assignment.
In our very own lives, we cannot and should not respond positively to every request we receive. Beloved, even though requests may be encapsulated in a much better format than was presented to Jesus, a Yes to stay at a place or to be a part of a specific task could be one which keeps you from affecting the group of people that may possibly sit at the very heart of your true calling.
It is therefore important to know the contents of one’s God-given assignment because though we may even want to describe Jesus as ‘mean or uncaring’ based on his response to the people who were frantically searching for Him, He so knew the exact requirements of His assignment. So much that no amount of persuasion or begging was going to delay or set Him on the wrong course.
Remember # Not EVERY ‘good deed’ is a necessary requirement for your given assignment.
#sly
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