To Whom Much Is Given , Much Will be Required

Holy Land Picture of the Day

Baptism in the Jordan Today's picture is of a Christian pilgrim being baptized in the Jordan River. It reminds us of Matthew 3:13-14; "Then Jesus arrived from Galilee at the Jordan coming to John, to be baptized by him. But John tried to prevent Him, saying, "I have need to be baptized by You, and do You come to me?  “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted  much, of him they will ask all the more” (Luke 12:48) Hey Gang, Did you ever have a song or a verse stick in your mind and play over and over?  I have had both in recent weeks and especially in the past several days.  The song is “This Little Light of Mine, I’m going to let it shine”, and the verse is the Scripture of the day.  So, this morning I began to research the Scriptures to see if God would point out one of those verses  pertaining to giving in bold print. I found a whole barrel full of such verses but none one what might call bold print but one did seem to speak a wee bit louder than the others.  Being an old fund raiser one of the very special verses that I used often was the story of the widow who gave two mites.  I was blessed to have such a wonderful gift when a widow woman, who had very little, sent her last .37 cents to help a child.  It reminded me of the story of Peter and John on their way to the temple when they ran across a beggar who was begging for alms.  Peter said “I do not possess silver or gold but what I do have I give to you; in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk, and seizing him by the right hand, he raise him up “ (Acts 3:6-7).  What a profound statement- “What I have I give to you”.   I have been privileged to be asked to officiate at four funerals in my lifetime and as I delivered the eulogy at each of these home goings the picture that made each a joyful experience was, as I was speaking all four were “running and leaping and praising God”.  Isaiah shared a fabulous piece of news with those who believe in Jesus the Nazarene and are walking in His ways, “And if you give yourself to the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, Then your light will rise in darkness and your gloom will become like midday.  And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; And you will be  like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail” (Isa. 58:10-11).  Wow, is that not a neat verse? Soooo, troopers for Christ, we will make choices today on how we treat our neighbor.  Jesus said, “To the extent we do it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me”. (Matt. 25:40).  Is that not something to ponder? Blessings, Gramps