We can go as far
with God as we want. The opportunities in front of us
are limitless. If we want to travel far and fast, we
are going to need to travel light.
II Timothy 2:4,5:
No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs
of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen
him to be a soldier.
And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he
not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
Ever get sick and tired
of life? Do you ever feel things are just too routine?
Too humdrum? Do you ever get a nagging feeling that
life is supposed to be better than it is? Do you want
to make a bigger difference with the rest of your life
than you’ve made until now? As full
as our lives get, they may not be fulfilling.
Well, you’ve been called to greatness, and without
fulfilling our calling it is difficult to be fulfilled.
Ephesians 3:14-21:
For this cause I bow my knees unto the Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ,
Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named,
That he would grant you, according to the riches of
his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit
in the inner man;
That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that
ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
May be able to comprehend with all saints what is
the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness
of God.
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly
above all that we ask or think, according to the power
that worketh in us,
Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout
all ages, world without end. Amen.
These “sick and
tired of the way things are going" feelings can
actually be drawing us like a magnet toward the greatness
for which we were created. Our restlessness may be a
kind of holy discontentment, planted in our heart by
God Himself. In fact, if you’re one of God’s
spiritually restless ones right now, there’s great
news for you. Restlessness many times precedes a powerful
touch of God on a person’s life. There’s
a dimension of you that cannot be fulfilled by anything
but God.
Are you ready to break out into a larger, more
significant future? If so, then you may need to shed
some of the encumbrances that have kept you unsatisfied.
God has made you restless for more because He wants
to work within you to will and to do of His good pleasure.
You’ll never be satisfied with less—no job,
no accomplishment, no bank account, no sport, nothing,
but a heartfelt relationship with Him and with your
brothers and sisters in His family will ever provide
meaning to life.
Maybe you’ve been settling for less than
that, but you’re tired of it. It’s time
for you to answer God’s call to greatness. Build
an atmosphere of expectation. See yourself in the pages
of God’s Word. Realize you are a laborer together
with Him. If there are things keeping you from pursuing
what you would really like to do, get rid of them. We
should never be too busy to carry out God’s will,
and we will enjoy the benefits for eternity.
Remember the story of Martha and Mary? Jesus
had just taught about attitude using the parable of
the good Samaritan as an illustration, and he comes
into a situation where there needed to be an attitude
adjustment.
Luke 10 38-42:
Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered
into a certain village: and a certain woman named
Martha received him into her house.
And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at
Jesus' feet, and heard his word.
But Martha was cumbered about much
serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou
not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone?
bid her therefore that she help me.
And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha,
thou art careful and troubled about many things:
But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that
good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
“Cumbered”
comes from the Greek word, peristaô,
which means to be pulled or drawn from every direction.
It is only used in this one place in the New Testament.
It is used of one who is so overburdened by various
distractions as to be worried and anxious. It is used
by Polybius of turning around or wheeling about a horse’s
head by the use of the bit in it’s mouth. It occurs
here in the passive voice. Martha’s mind was pulled
in every direction. One thought after another grabbed
her mind and turned her about just like a quarter horse
turning on a dime.
To one degree or another we have all had these
kinds of disconcerting thoughts lead us about as a brute
beast. Sometimes we are pulled in so many directions
that it is hard to make proper choices. This feeling
of being overwhelmed can serverely effect our attitude.
Look at how it effected Martha’s:
She questions whether the Lord
even cared about her—“Lord dost thou
not care…”
She felt forsaken by her sister
who left her to do all the work—“my sister
hath left me to serve alone.”
She tried to tell Jesus what to
do—“bid her…help me.”
The problem wasn’t
that Martha was serving and Mary was not. That seemed
to be OK with the master. The problem was that she was
doubled minded about it. Jesus pointed out what her
problem was. He said, “Martha, Martha, thou art
careful and troubled about many things….”
“Careful” is the Greek word, merimnaô,
to be anxiously concerned about or to have distracting
care. Her mind was distracted or divided. “Troubled”
is the Greek word, turbazô, (used only
here) meaning to be confused or disquieted as by the
tumult or uproar of a clamorous and excited crowd. She
had so much going on in her mind she could hardly distinguish
one thought from another. It was like they were all
yelling to get her attention. She really didn’t
know what was going on in her head. All she knew was
that she did not like it.
Furthermore, Jesus said, “One thing is
needful….” The necessity was to make a choice
and be at peace. Mary made her choice and was at peace.
Sure it is easy to spiritualize and say, “Mary
chose to hear the Word and Martha did not.” That’s
true, but don’t think the right decision is to
always to sit down and fellowship and not serve or prepare
for what is coming next. It’s easy to run to a
fellowship and hide from the things we have to deal
with.
Jesus said, “Mary hath chosen….”
“Chosen” is the Greek word eklegomai, which
is in the middle voice and means to pick or choose out
for one's self. Mary made her choice for her life. Martha
had no right to dictate what Mary’s choice ought
to be. Martha chose to serve, if that was her choice,
fine. Jesus didn’t say, “Stop what you are
doing and sit down with us.” He basically said,
“Quit trying to tell everyone else what to do.”
Mary’s at peace with her decision, you be at peace
with yours.
The distracted and divided mind will never be
peaceful. To walk by the spirit you have to decide on
your activities and approach them with a focused mind.
If you carry the kind of distracting care that Martha
did, you’ll never get very far in your walk. We
must give our cares to God because he cares for us (I
Peter 5:7).
Hebrews 12:1
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with
so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every
weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set
before us,
Broken fellowship and
sin-consciousness will be sure to keep you burdened
down, if you let them. These also need to get set aside
if we are to run with patience the race that is set
before us. People act like their weaknesses are more
important than God’s grace. If you put your weaknesses
on one side of the scale and God’s grace on the
other, to which side are the scales tipped?
Do your best—God will do the rest. Proverbs
3:5&6 says “Trust in the Lord with all of
your heart…” Don’t do it half-heartedly—put
yourself into it and do your best. That’s all
God expects. You don’t need to be perfect, just
do your best. Start producing something and you’ll
get better, more perfect as you go. The point is production
not perfection.
We want to build an attitude of expectation when
it comes to walking by the spirit. Anything else will
just burden you down. Look at the expectation of the
shepherds at the birth of Jesus.
Luke 2:8-18:
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding
in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and
the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and
they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold,
I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall
be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David
a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the
babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude
of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good
will toward men.
And it came to pass, as the angels were gone away
from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another,
Let us now go even unto Bethlehem, and see this thing
which is come to pass, which the Lord hath made known
unto us.
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph,
and the babe lying in a manger.
And when they had seen it, they made known abroad
the saying which was told them concerning this child.
And all they that heard it wondered at those things
which were told them by the shepherds.
They didn’t carry
around the burden of the sheep. They weren’t pulled
in different directions by everything they had going
on. They received the promise of God and acted upon
it immediately. When you travel light you will have
the freedom to move on the Father’s direction.
Other examples:
Peter and John at the Temple Gate
Beautiful (Acts 3:1-12). They didn’t have silver
and gold, but they had what the lame man needed. The
lame man was begging to show humility. When his expectation
turned from alms to his healing, he received his miracle.
The Shunamite woman going to Elijah (II Kings 4:18-25a).
She didn’t waste any time with explanations
to her husband or concerns with her own comfort. She
was focused on getting to Elisha and getting her son
back.
One of the words used for minsiter
is diakonos, which means one who runs errands
for another or one who runs to serve. “Running”
often times in the Bible will show eagerness and expectation
in one’s service. [e.g. Peter running to the tomb
(John 20:3-9), Phillip running to the Ethiopian eunuch
(Acts 8:28-31), David running to meet Goliath (I Samuel
17:17-22,48-51).]
In closing let me share with you what I call
my “Traveling Light Trilogy.” These will
aid you tremendously in traveling light:
Follow after charity! (agapê)
– I Corinthians 14:1.
Fear not! (At least 63 times in
the Bible.) – Hebrews 13:6.
Let the peace of God rule! –
Colossians 3:15; Psalms 46:10.
If you push to love, refuse to fear,
and cultivate the quiet seas of God’s peace in
your life you will be traveling light.
