Recently, I bought a new Bible that includes the NASB and the Message translations side by side. After years of reading my NIV, I thought it would be best to switch things up and see if anything caught my eye in a different way than before. Well, it worked.
In reading the gospel of Matthew, I've found new revelations and encouragement to the sermons and words of Jesus. In Matthew 5 specifically, where the sermon on the Mount begins, Christ describes how we're blessed in many ways, but not the ways we'd expect. In reading the Message translation I found that:
We're blessed in pain.
We're blessed in weakness
We're blessed when everything I hold dear is lost.
We're blessed in living a right life
We're blessed when we care and are content with life
We're blessed in persecution.
The last line got me thinking, "blessed in persecution, what does that even look like in a world where everything is so generally accepted?". The fact is: often we find ourselves doing whatever it is just to get by. We don't speak up for Christ because we don't want to "muddy the waters". We don't step out in faith because other's may think we're strange. We don't take the risks, pray the prayers, and push ourselves beyond our comfort zones. We've become a society where anything challenging or difficult is just too much for us. But if we're honest with ourselves, don't we meet with God in the most intimate way when we're walking in His plan, His will, and His design for our lives?
Further in Matthew we see the stories of Jesus healing the crippled, giving sight to the blind, and raising people from the dead. But the most dramatic story, for me, is that of the centurion who comes to Jesus saying, "my servant is sick, you don't need to come to my house, just say the word and I know he'll be well." The next line gets me every time I read it.... Jesus was taken aback by the man's faith. Taken aback. Shocked. Amazed. Because one man decided to trust Jesus at His prompting and His word.
How often do we question God rather than go after the desires and promptings He's laid on our hearts? And what kind of faith do we need to have in order to start seeing these miracles today? Jesus left and said that we would be able to do the same miracles and more by the power of the Holy Spirit. So why aren't we seeing more people take the risks, praying for the sick, and interceding for those who cannot speak for themselves? Simply put: it's too easy not to. Because the second we start praying bigger prayers, desiring more, and speaking boldly is the second we begin to see persecution. We've become a society that cannot handle rocking the boat, so we stay stagnant.
But would you rather stand before the Lord when you die and hear, "you could have done more, if you would have just trusted and listened" or "well done good and faithful servant"??
Let's start getting our hearts right with God and asking for the Holy Spirit to guide us in everything that we face. Let's pray the big prayers. Let's love more. Let's stop talking about it and start doing it. Let's take the risks. Let's move beyond our comfort zones. Let's meet Christ and do His Kingdom work on this earth. And let's start today.
To the least of these:
"I was hungry and you fed me,
I was thirsty and you gave me a drink,
I was homeless and you gave me a room,
I was shivering and you gave me clothes,
I was sick and you stopped to visit,
I was in prison and you came to me.'" - Matthew 25
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