Monday, August 15, 2011

Get Out of the Barn!

And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry.
Luke 12:17-19

Jesus' warning in the letter to the church of Laodicea is a reminder for us to stay ever vigilant.     (* See Revelation 3)  That church was so unperceptive about their true spiritual condition because they seemed to be preoccupied with worldly lusts and affairs over a relationship with Jesus and a ministry to a lost world.  It had grown so lukewarm that they assumed that godliness was indicated by the vast amounts of things they owned.  I wonder if they did not feel that the beauty and splendor of their stately buildings were what drew people to God?  Rather than getting out in the fields and getting their hands dirty, they had decided to stay in the barn and ogle over all they had amassed.  Jesus did not call his redeemed ones to work in the barn, but he has called us to gather the wheat in the field--to carry on the ministry of reconciliation.  The barn (church) is where we get the necessary tools to go out into the field of humanity and reap the end time harvest.



Are we any different today than the church of Laodicea?  We gather in the barn a few times a week, sing a few songs, say a few prayers, entertain ourselves with a Sunday School lesson (for those few churches who actually have a Sunday School program left) and a sermon or two, and then we go on through the week assuming we have done God a "service".  We surmise that "service" is applied to our time in the barn, so we call it that--service. The true service Christ is looking for is in the field where the hurting, lost, and dying masses are headed down the wide and broad road of destruction.  He is longing for a people to get out of the barn and into the fields before the precious fruit of the earth drys out and the fires of judgment sweep across the land.  Maybe we have forgotten the cost for our inactivity--it is only the eternal souls of men, women who will spend eternity in a lake of fire.  Have we become a "Come To" church and not a "Go Ye" church?  Are we saying come to the barn for a good time, or go into all the world and preach the Gospel that saves the lost sinner?

The man in Jesus' parable above longed to build bigger barns to store all that he assumed he would later enjoy.  There was one big problem; however, he ran out of time.  It is sure that this whole world is running out of time as well.  Therefore, it is important that we redeem the time we do have for the days are evil.  It is high time to get in the fields once again before the darkness of the impending Tribulation overwhelms us.  Truly, the night is coming when no man can work.  What are you going to do; hide in the barn or work the fields? 


I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.
John 9:4-5

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1 comment:

  1. GerieAugust 15, 2011 at 8:56 PM

    Thanks John,
    I remember when I too was asleep and just living life from day to day until the Lord woke me up. I remember I read this young girls blog and she was talking about giving and not hoarding. She lives really cheap so she has more money to help people with.I loved her giving spirit and enthusiasm. She had a christian, homemaking,decorating type blog, but a couple of her posts were very powerful about giving and the Lord used her witness to really stir my spirit up.
    Well, she doesn't have that blog anymore. She became discouraged when unbelievers found her blog and began harassing her.Her last blog post was So powerful but she deleted it all, I wish I would have copied it. Later she tried again with a different blog but her heart wasn't in it, she believed that the Lord would rather her keep house and that was enough that He really didn't need her blog anyway.

    All I can say is that it was to her credit that I woke up. The Lord used her words to stir me up. There is always something that we can do for Him, nothing is too small, we just have to make ourselves available.I told her how much she influenced me, but I don't think she really believed it.

    One of the reasons I had the courage to start my own blog was because of her.God can use our work for Him to wake others up and influence them to work for Him too.Any little comment we make, may just be the right words that He will use in somebody else's life.

    Thanks for making your blog available John, because your enthusiasm for the Lord is contagious and it is very comforting to read the writings of likeminded people.

    The Lord Bless you,
    Gerie

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