DON’T EXCLUDE YOURSELF

Sunday: 11th November, 2018

Reference text: 1 Kings 17:10-16

1 Kings 17:12 And she said, As the LORD thy God liveth, I have not a cake, but a handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse: and, behold, I am gathering two sticks, that I may go in and dress it for me and my son, that we may eat it, and die.

With no real intention to, words can be inclusive or exclusive. Hence, if there is something I have had to learn quickly over the course of the last couple of months, it is a gradual editing of my vocabulary to make use of ‘our’, instead of ‘my’ and ‘your’. The widow of Zarephat mentioned in today’s text excluded herself entirely from the people of God. As evident in her own words spoken to Elijah: ‘As the Lord YOUR God lives’.

Often, the things we go through also make us think this way: ‘that God is on everybody’s team but ours’. Elijah’s prophesy thus came with a presentation of God as: ‘the Lord God of Israel’. It may not have been explicitly stated, but the use of an entire nation in his words was a way of telling this woman ‘God is not just for me, He is for everyone.’

This morning, I heard of a new way to measure generosity which said that ‘ the true measure of generosity is not how much is given, but how much it costs the giver. We are not excluded from the family of God because the price paid to bring us in, was no small one: it was an offer of God himself. So my dear, your anthem should be: ‘The Lord is OUR God!’

He is as much yours, as He is mine, and even your present dire circumstance should not cause you to the think or say otherwise. With your yes, you have been brought into the family of God, so do not exclude yourself.

Remember # God is also for you.

#sly