JUST DO IT

Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.  Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and salute no one on the road ( Luke 10:3-4).

I have been reading through Luke's gospel.  When I read these verses I thought of my dad.  The commission the Lord gave to the Seventy was basically my dad's philosophy of life.  Most of the time we do not even make an attempt because we do not have enough money, talent or ability.  We do not want to make a fool of ourselves by attempting to do the impossible.  My dad's philosophy was, "if you want to do a thing, then do it."

In the larger text of Luke 10:1-7, the Lord lists the essentials that it takes to do any job to which one is called; I believe these essentials are still needed today.

1. Faith.  The Lord called his disciples to do an impossible task.  What made the task impossible was they were instructed to take nothing with them.  They had to trust the Lord to make provision for them each moment of every day.  Christian's are not materialists, they do not see money as the solution to every problem.  Even though money is the practical necessity of everyday life on this earth, the disciples were instructed to look to the Lord to make provision for them and it is no less true today.

2. A partner, one whom can absolutely be trusted no matter what; the Lord sent them out two by two.   Being sent out as "lambs in the midst of wolves" is a stressful life.  Knowing that someone with skin on "has your back," understands the mission and is committed to the mission, relieves the stress and brings encouragement.

3.  Prayer, asking God to bless our personal labors to accomplish the mission and asking God for more laborers to join in the mission and see it through.  Everyone should be involved in a mission that will fail if God does not help, whether it is a spiritual enterprise or a business enterprise, it does not matter.

The lesson here is to not allow an apparent lack of something keep you from trying.  We have a great God who will sustain you as you labor to accomplish the mission to which you were called.  When the lovely and gracious, Helen, and I, returned to the family farm to raise our children here, we had nothing.  We did make a commitment to do any honorable work, even if it was lowly, to make that happen.  Back in the "80's" farming was not good and was certainly not easy.  My tax preparer recommended that I quit farming--I was working for almost nothing.  But with the Lord providing, and the help of a faithful wife, we did it.  Life is good--and it is getting gooder.

My advice?  If God has called you to the mission and you have these three essentials, just do it!

Our Father's Blessings,
Tom