Topic: Are you working ?

“But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” Jn 5:17

Above statement was credited to the Lord Jesus Christ when he healed the man by the pool of Bethsida who was there for 38 years . Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”. “so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.” Fast forward “So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”

My focus is on the social responsibility of humanity - work .Jesus was emphatic: My father is always working...

From Genesis we were told the Trinity worked for six days and rested on the seventh. 

So after creation what work is God doing that Jesus is referring to when he said my father and I are working. I believe it is taking care of all that he created especially humans! Over 7 billion people. All these people making a demand on God, especially Christians (one third of the universe) through their 24 hour prayers. I can imagine many people run to emergency departments in various hospitals and we meet so many people in line, but we feel our emergency is more critical than others - we also do that through our prayers and God meets the needs of every one, emergency or not!

Now the question the Holy Spirit is asking today is are you working? What are you doing? If your father is working caring for the good of humanity are you following suit? Recently I watched a video clip of religious economy nations ( Africa ) versus knowledge economy nations( Asia, Israel ). Literarily saying we have some generation of people who will rather spend all their time asking God for miracles rather than using their God given knowledge to work. It further alleges that these knowledge based nations are not as corrupt as the religious based nations. Truth must be told, how will people not be corrupt if they don’t have the mentality of working, when the average Christian is expecting someone to come to him and give him money. I recently noticed a young man, probably in his early 20s always ministering on Facebook with thousands of views and followers, so I decided to listen, to him, your guess is as good as mine. In about 3 minutes I watched, this boy call a name and say “I see someone giving Michael money right now, in the next 24hours, or within the next 7 days!

People not working but waiting for miracle of money transfer!

It’s possible you’ve experienced some people on WhatsApp showing you how twenty minutes ago they deposited 100,00 Naira in one account and the money doubled! Incredibly you see some people also depositing money there expecting money to come without work! Jesus says my Father works and I work.

What the Holy Spirit is saying today is that there is dignity in labour. Go and work like your father in heaven. When God put Adam in the garden of Eden he said “ till the ground” Manage the garden. Friends let us find some ground to till, some business to manage. This is how economies work. Seek God’s face for what he wants you to do, plunge yourself into it and God promises “to prosper what thou doeth” Being a Christian does not forbid you from working hard, studying hard. Paul says “ I labour more than you all ..,” 

A word of caution for us as minsters, let us deemphasize the issue of miracles on our pulpits. Let us teach believers to work. Let us teach them that Rome was not built in a day. Let us teach them resilience, perseverance. Let us not just talk about sowing and harvesting, let us talk about processes. Let us stop telling them when you give one dollar you will get one hundred dollar, rather let us teach them to support the work of God and that God shall reward them in the way he chooses. 

Let us teach them not to focus on getting rich in haste but prospering in the work of their hands.

Jesus by healing that man on the Sabbath day , and telling the man to “get up, take up your mat, and walk” was teaching humanity that God will work miracle where humanity is incapacitated, but expects humanity to use their skills henceforth to meet their needs. Irrespective of the day and time, Jesus faulted the theology of the religious masters that forbids people  from working when God has changed their disability to ability.

Conclusion:  Stop waiting for Facebook prophesies, manipulated pulpit visions, WhatsApp money scammers and doublers, go and work with your hands . “My father works and I work “ Jesus said. If God is working and Jesus is working - why are you slothful, loafing, idling, complaining, murmuring, gossiping-brethren let us use our brain and brawn, let us go to work!

Shalom .

--