Help Wanted?

Psalm 57, Matthew 8

The two chapters that I read this evening have a great deal in common with each other. Psalm 57 is a cry from David, after he has been chased into a cave by Saul, to God for mercy. Matthew 8 contains a number of stories where people are either asking Jesus for help (mercy) or they are asking if they can help Jesus (disciple). In some instances they are asking both.

It is very interesting that as David is begging God for mercy he still chooses to praise God for his goodness. David's life is in imminent danger and he is praising God. A lesson that perhaps we can all learn from particularly when we are having a bad day or we are stuck in traffic or someone says something that offends us. Perhaps instead of letting it ruin our entire day we should take a moment to praise God. People often say that when you are about to lose your cool that you should count to ten forwards and backwards out loud to help regain your composure. Well I can only imagine what the result might be if instead of counting to ten we take a minute or two to praise God. I suspect that we would not be the only ones to gain from that. Also, in Matthew I noticed what at first looked like Jesus was having a mood swing. In the first part of the chapter people are approaching him and asking him to heal them or their loved ones. He immediately does so even in some cases without even going to see the sick or injured person. One minute he is happily healing people like crazy but then his mood appears to change. A man tells Jesus he is going to follow him and Jesus responds by saying he has no where to rest. Then another says he just needs to bury his father and Jesus tells him to let the dead take care of themselves. He also accuses the disciples of having little faith.

My first impression was that Jesus was being very cold and suffered from a very significant change of demeanor. However, when I looked a little closer I realized that there is a very significant difference in what the people he is addressing are asking. In one situation people are asking Jesus for help. They simply need assistance and have faith that he can help them. That is all that they want from him. In the second situation he is talking to his disciples or to people who want to be his disciples. In one instance Jesus is showing mercy and grace and in the other he is teaching and developing followers and future church leaders. It would be wrong for Jesus to mislead someone into thinking that following Him will be easy. Jesus has a responsibility to ensure that if someone is going to help Jesus in ministry they need to know that it is not a life of ease but a life of hardship, dedication and sacrifice. Not to be overlooked there are definite blessings that come with following Jesus but there is also sacrifice, hardship and the need for total commitment.

As I step into this next phase in my life where I am choosing to enter full-time ministry as a Salvation officer. I need to make a conscious decision to be totally committed to Jesus. I need to be ready to make sacrifices, to face hardships. Like David I need to be ready to praise God in the hardest and most challenging of times. If I am not ready to make God far and away my number one priority then I am not ready to be in full-time ministry. So this evening I am choosing to give God my total and complete dedication. I am ready to make him my single-most priority. I have the wonderful opportunity to enter into this ministry with my wife and if I am to love her as best as is possible then I need to be focused completely on living for God. I am choosing this evening to give myself fully to God's service and like David I am choosing to praise God not only when times are great but also when they are terrible.

Dear God,

Praise you! You are the Almighty God and I love you. You are merciful and just and loving and right. May you truly be praised and exalted at all times!! I praise you and I worship you now. I thank you for giving me the opportunity to serve you full-time for the rest of my life. I thank you that I get to do this with my beautiful wife! Lord, I am ready to accept all that comes with serving you. I am ready for the blessing of being with you and also I am ready for the hardships and the sacrifice. Thank you that you have provided me with a realistic picture of what service to you looks like. Thank you for the resource you have given me in the Bible. I pray Lord that you will provide me with the strength and wisdom to handle every circumstance that comes my way and I pray that you will give me the wisdom to continually go to the Bible to draw closer to you. Here I am Lord. Ready for service!

Amen