“Always Give Yourself Fully To The Work Of The Lord!”

“Always Give Yourself Fully To The Work Of The Lord!”(I Cor.15:50-58).
Today is the first Sunday after the commemoration of the risen Lord Jesus Christ. Since Easter Monday we have been reflecting on death and the resurrection.
Some of us are becoming uncomfortable with all this talk about death and resurrection. There are two main taboo subjects which Africans do not like to talk about: sexuality and death.
Death is a scary topic. It is as if to raise discussions on death, one has a premonition of death. It is this scariness of discussing death which is the reason why many people still die without a will. It doesn’t matter whether the death occurs untimely as in an accident, brief illness or protracted illness.
A will is a will – be it written or oral. Christians may ask, “Did Jesus leave a will?” My answer is a “Yes”. Jesus left an oral will – albeit that it wasn’t called by that name.
The Great Commission is Jesus’ will to his disciples. The message to Peter about being the rock upon which his church will be built is a will. His last words on the cross to his mother and the disciple whom he loved are inclusive in his will.
We know that a will is “a legal declaration of a person’s wishes regarding the disposal of his or her property or estate after death. especially: a written instrument legally executed by which a person makes disposition of his or her estate to take effect after death.
Jesus did not have any tangible property or wealth but he bequeathed to his disciples his teachings and instructions which are intangible but incomparable wealth.
When we seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, all other things become ours.
Our Lord could not bequeath tangible property to us because such things are ephemeral. After all, he couldn’t bequeath to us what he did not have, and which would not be useful to us in eternity.
Indeed my friend, the Lord’s legacy to us is what will be of use to us in eternity. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable.” The mystery is that we are not all likely to die before the rapture, “but we will be changed – in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet,” which at its sound, “the dead will be raised imperishable, an we will be changed…” At that time “the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality.” Then death will be swallowed up in victory. The sting of death which is sin will be no more because sin’s power comes from the law.
“But thanks be to God! He gives us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Therefore, dear friend, “Stand firm. Let nothing move you.” However, this is not to say we should sit idly as if we are the Lotus-eaters or to waste our days as if we are in the island of the Sirens listening to them sing until we waste into skeletons.
Rather, “always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.”
Sunday prayer: Holy Spirit, as I await eternity with Christ, help me in the now to always give myself fully to the work of the Lord. Amen!
Have a blessed Sunday! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.