OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL-MONDAY-25/04/2016-BELATED OFFERING?-BY PASTOR E.A. ADEBOYE
BELATED OFFERING?
Memorise
Now
upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre,
bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. Luke
24:1
Read
Luke 24:1-8,
1 Now upon the first day of the week,
very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices
which they had prepared, and certain others with them.
2 And
they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3 And
they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.
4 And
it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood
by them in shining garments:
5 And
as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto
them, why seek ye the living among the dead?
6 He is
not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in
Galilee,
7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into
the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.
8 And
they remembered his words,
KJV
MESSAGE
Some
offerings are acceptable while some are not; some offerings are given at the
right time while some are belatedly offered. On the morning of the
resurrection, some people brought spices to the sepulchre of Jesus, meanwhile,
a few days to His crucifixion, a woman anointed Jesus Christ’s feet with
expensive ointment. This woman’s kind gesture was just in time.
“When Jesus understood it, he
said unto them, why trouble ye the woman? For she hath wrought a good work upon
me. For ye have the poor always with you; but we ye have not always. For in
that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.”
Matthew 26:10-12
Incidentally, when
Jesus Christ died, no one was there to perform the customary anointing before
burial for Him. It was in lieu of this that certain disciples came to the
resurrection morning that they may anoint Jesus in arrears. However, He had
resurrected!
Beloved, there are
many lessons to be learnt from this resurrection story; whenever the Holy
Spirit asks you to do something, no matter how illogical it may sound, do it
immediately. The reason is that if you do it later, it will be a belated
offering or service. The disciples who came to anoint Jesus went back with
their perfume because the Master was no longer in the grave. James, an apostle
of Jesus Christ wrote:
“What doth it profit,
my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save
him? If a brother or sister be nakedm and destitute of daily food, and one of
you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye
give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit.”
James 2:14-16
If I may answer the apostle; there can be no
profit whatsoever. There could, however, be a loss of that person in need, and
it may be a physical or spiritual loss as the fellow may die of hunger or
backslide. In this same vein, whenever the Holy Spirit asks you to do something
and doing that thing attracts criticisms from men, be undeterred, go ahead and
do exactly as you were told. Your critics will soon realise that they were
wrong to have criticised you. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us, and may
we continue to obey Him as we journey from the world to our eternal home above.
Action Point
Listen to the Holy Spirit
and do all that He asks you to do immediately.
Bible in one year
1st Kings
2:13-3:28, Proverbs 15:11-24
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