Skip to main content

It is Time to Get Up!

   

               Patterns in scripture are important. Here is one that I came across in Matthew 9.

                The chapter begins with Jesus healing a paralyzed man.  During this event, the phrase “get up” is used twice (verses 5 and 6) and the story ends by stating, “The man got up and went home” (verse 7).

                Next, Jesus sees Matthew the tax collector and says, “Follow me”.  We are told that “Matthew got up and followed him” (verse 9). 

                Later, a man comes to Jesus because his little girl is sick.  Immediately, “Jesus got up and went with him” (verse 19).  By the time Jesus arrived at the man’s house, the little girl was dead, but Jesus went in, took the girl by the hand and “she got up” (verse 25).

                I do not think that it is a coincidence that the phrase “get up” or “got up” is six times in twenty-five verses.  I believe this pattern is there to remind us that faith is not just about what you believe or think, it is about what you do.  Faith is an action. 

                The chapter concludes with Jesus saying, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field” (verse 38).  In other words, the problem is not the field.  The field is ready.  The problem is the lack of harvesters.  Jesus’ point is that someone needs to get up and go.  The next chapter starts with Jesus sending his disciples out to share the good news (Matthew 10:1-42).

                It is easy to feel like we have done something because we have talked about it, but that is only half of the story.  We must go!  We must live and share the good news.  We must get up!

                 “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dark and Light

            When you look out at the world, what do you see?             Some see nothing but trouble and pain.   They point to things like poverty, crime, problems with drugs and alcohol and marriage break-ups and say that the world is full of sadness and sorrow.   Watch the news for even a half hour and you will get the idea that the world is a dark place.             Others see nothing but good.   They appreciate generous people in their community.   They think about their friends and neighbours and smile.   They marvel at the beauty of sunrises and stars at night.   To them, the world is a bright and wonderful place.             You may be surprised that the Bible supports both of these world views.   On one hand it says things like, “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the
1 comment
Read more

New Article: Five Words to Improve Your Relationships

                 In the late 1800s, it was common for railway companies to plant formal gardens beside their stations.   These gardens were filled with trees, shrubs, flowers, and fruit trees.   Sometimes they also featured a kitchen garden growing lettuce, carrots, corn, and potatoes.   Estevan’s Canadian Pacific Railway Garden was once located where Mid-City Plumbing and Heating is today.                The purpose of these gardens was to show what the land could produce.   After hours and sometimes days of riding across the featureless prairies, the railways wanted to show settlers the potential of their new home.   The gardens showed what was possible and they encouraged the settlers to transform their own land and discover its potential too.                Today’s verse acts similarly, in that it challenges us to find the potential in
Post a Comment
Read more

Forgetting What Is Behind

                   Generalizations are helpful because they show a pattern that is normally true. However, they are also dangerous because they ignore the exceptions to the rule.                  Here is my generalization:   It is a quality of the strong to be able to forget the past and move on.   The apostle Paul summarizes this idea when he states, “One thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God had called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:13-14). Too often, we trip over things that are behind us.   We remember and nurse old hurts.   We rehearse mistakes that no one else recalls.   In doing so, we pull the past into the present and allow it to dictate how we feel right now.   In these cases, we would be better off “forgett
Post a Comment
Read more