Purposefully Obey!

The parable found in 𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟏:𝟐𝟖-𝟑𝟐, is about 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡: “𝐒𝐨𝐧, 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐭𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝.”

𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 = 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐞, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝.

The 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐝'𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞.

𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐲𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧, 𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫.

Later, doesn’t specifically say when it is. 𝐋𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞:

•𝟏 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 

•𝟏 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 

•𝟏 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 

•𝟏 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 

•𝟏 𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

•𝟏 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

•𝟏 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 

•𝟏 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫

•𝐌𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭

At the same command, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝: “𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥, 𝐬𝐢𝐫.” 𝐇𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐠𝐨.

𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬: “𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝?”

The answer is neither! We must swiftly obey! Immediately and purposefully obey! 

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟏:𝟑𝟏 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, “𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝐈 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐱 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐚𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮.”

This means that 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.” They are entering God’s Kingdom first 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐞 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐦𝐛, 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬.

𝐈𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐆𝐨𝐝, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝.

Jesus reminds us that 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬: “𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫.”

Now 𝐰𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭. The fact is, "𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞, '𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝,' 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐦𝐲 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧.”-𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟕:𝟐𝟏

𝐖𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐲𝐬. 𝐋𝐮𝐤𝐞 𝟔:𝟒𝟔 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬: “𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞, ‘𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝,’ 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐬𝐚𝐲?”

We must 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 God’s Kingdom message, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐬. “𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐟𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝,” 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, “𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐑𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥.”-𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝟏:𝟏𝟓

Be Girdled in the Lord!

There is a sound of urgency as I heard this phrase! As it resounded in me, I thought of the figure of how God wants us to be secured in Him!

Girdle is defined as a belt or cord worn around the waist.

Ephesians 6:14 says: “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist…”

I was led to research how many girdles are found in our body, and I found that our bodies are composed of two girdles:

1. The pectoral girdle (our shoulder: clavicle, or collarbone, scapula, or shoulder blade.)

2. The pelvic girdle (an attachment point to the trunk and lower limb muscles)

Then I researched the function of each and this is what I found:

Our pectoral girdles are responsible for providing structural support to our shoulder region on the left and right side of our body. They also allow for a large range of motion, connecting muscles necessary for shoulder and arm movement.

The pelvic girdle’s primary role is to support the weight of the upper body when sitting and to transfer this weight to the lower limbs when standing. It serves as an attachment point for trunk and lower limb muscles, and also protects the internal pelvic organs.

Ephesians 6:14-17

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

God gave us a protective shield for us to be strengthened and to be able to stand our ground! Notice that of the five things that compose our spiritual armor, 3 are protective of our pectoral and pelvic girdles!

1. Belt of truth (buckled around our waist)

2. Breastplate of righteousness

3. Shield of faith - to extinguish all flaming arrows

God’s Spirit knows we are being confronted with difficult times that might make us:

* doubt God’s truth

* doubt who we are in Him and Who He is for us

* doubt God’s promises

By speaking to me: “BE GIRDLED IN THE LORD!” He wants to make sure we are able to withstand ALL THE FLAMING ARROWS OF THE EVIL ONE!

It’s time to GIRDLE UP! Let’s stand the test and continue to run the race set before us! He is our champion and His promises for us remain and will never fail! He is the Lord our refuge and our shield! Girdle up!