Open Your Eyes

 

Jesus taught his disciples that there is a greater priority in life than food and drink. He had just finished his conversation with the Samaritan Woman at the well in John chapter 4. His disciples had gone into town to get some food because they were all hungry, including Jesus. But, when they got back after urging Jesus to eat something, he replied, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about” (John 4:32). The disciples wondered if someone had brought him food. Jesus explained: “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work (John 4:34).

The transcending priorities in Jesus’ life were serving God by doing his will and his work. When Jesus came to the well, he was weary. Then the woman arrived. He began a conversation with her, and as her spirit opened up, Jesus was consumed by God’s work.

Jesus took advantage of this moment to teach his disciples a powerful truth. He said to them, “Do you not say, ‘Four months more and then the harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest” (John 4:35). The natural harvest follows a four-month cycle, but people follow a very different cycle. A person may have had seeds of the gospel planted years before then in a moment be ripe for the harvest. Jesus was saying to us all, “Open your eyes and see the harvest!” Everywhere around us are people ready to hear the message of the gospel if we can but see them.

We met a lady who lived her life with her eyes open during our years in Chaco, Argentina.  We called her Abuela (grandma).  Abuela Maria was seventy-six years old when she came to know Jesus. She didn’t have much of this world’s goods, but she knew she had treasures in Christ.  Although she was in her later years, she wasted no time learning how she could serve. She so committed her life to the Lord that she became involved in every ministry she could. Her excitement about Jesus was contagious. Within two years after her conversion, she had touched many with her infectious enthusiasm for God. She was always reaching out to somebody, whether it was through a loaf of homemade bread or just her familiar words of “I’m praying for you.”

After church one evening, Maria told me goodbye, because she was taking a trip. She hugged me as she also did each member of my family.

The following day Pastor Pablo called me. He was fighting tears as he said, “Can you come and help me preach a funeral?  Abuela Maria went home to Jesus last night. This morning, we found her sitting in her chair with her Bible in her lap and three offerings posted for next Sunday. “Then he added, “Did she tell you she was going on a trip.” I found out she had told several others she was going home.

At her funeral, Pablo asked, “How many have come to know Jesus because of this little lady that we are now saying goodbye to.” We were all shocked to see hands going up everywhere. Her life and death had made such an impact on so many in such a short time.  I think it was because she knew who she was in Christ, and she took advantage of the riches God has made available to all his children.  She understood remarkably what it meant to be a servant.  She lived with her eyes open toward people.  boydbrooks.com

Giving

 

Giving to God and others changes us when we give from the heart. Luke tells us to “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Luke 6:38). Indeed, you cannot out-give God. Some people are afraid to give away some of what they have been blessed with, but they will never experience the joy of being blessed by God in unusual ways. The larger the measure we use to give away is the same way it comes back to us.

Luke describes for us an interesting scene from Jesus’ perspective. Jesus was watching as the rich and influential deposited their money into the brass chests at the temple. Some of the offerings were undoubtedly impressive. It was not uncommon for more than one person to be carrying the gifts because they were so heavy. You could hear the loud noise as the heavy coins hit the bottom of the brass chests. It may have been impressionable for those watching, but it wasn’t for Jesus because he saw their hearts. Luke says that “As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury, but he also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins.” Jesus’ conclusion about the widow’s offering is surprising. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, this poor widow has put in more than all the others. All these people gave their gifts out of their wealth, but she out of her poverty put in all she had to live on” (Luke 21:1-4). She gave it to God out of love.

Giving is part of our sincere worship. I remember when we started the Argentine Missions Department in the 1980s. We began taking offerings from some very poor congregations to send as missions offerings. I explained to the people that it was a biblical principle, not a question of amount. I remember one woman, Juanita, who wanted to give but didn’t have anything to offer. Then God spoke to her to not buy a bell pepper that she liked to put in a dish she was going to make. She obeyed, and God used her offering the same way he did the widows’ two mites. 

boydbrooks.com