A Letter to the 20 year old me....

Dear 20 year old me,

I hope you are doing well as you read this letter today. I am older now, with over 10 years of experiences and Gods daily saving grace that has made me who I am today. I hope I will inspire you to re-prioritize your life well with a few of these gentle reminders...

My dear… 10 years from now,

It will matter that you kept in touch with your Sunday school friends because they are the ones you grew up with, who know you the most, saw you at your worst, shared in your dreams, hopes and even pledged allegiance to your friendship. Remember it is possible to become a true loyal friend - “the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as himself.” 1 Samuel 18:1

 It will matter that you chose your new friends at college wisely, because by the time you

graduate you would have imbibed every ounce of each other and it would be quite unpleasant if they were nasty people with crude language and a rude sense of humor. “He who walks with wise men will be wise, But the companion of fools will suffer harm” Proverbs 13:20

It will matter that you chose not to cheat or copy for exams, because if you cannot be faithful over the little things (like facing the consequences of failing an exam) then how will you face the bigger challenges of faithfulness in paying taxes, your insurance, credit card bills and loans. “He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much.” Luke 16:10.

 As lonely as it might turn out, it will matter that you waited for the right guy/girl to show up in God’s perfect timing, that you waited to know the person first and his/her commitment to your Lord Jesus before you became emotionally attached. I found this write up quite helpful: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/wait-to-date-until-you-can-marry

 It will not matter 10 years from now that people constantly put you down for not choosing the right career or course. If you have managed to academically excel and find peace in the path that God has chosen for you, then that is all you need. Remaining open to His will is all that counts. “Thus says the Lord, “Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths, Where the good way is, and walk in it; And you will find rest for your souls.” Jeremiah 6:16.

It will not matter who topped the Sunday school class on the number of memory verses or the final exam because if you cannot apply a single truth or do not agree with what you were taught there then you have learnt nothing at all. So, ask all the questions now rather than memorizing all the “right” answers, because the world you face (once you step out of the house), is going to add to all the confusion and chaos.

It will not matter that you were the most active person in your college fellowship, the one who initiated every prayer or gospel meeting or attended the most number of Bible studies – if your personal quiet time with the Lord was affected at every count, then you have chosen to be a Martha rather than Mary. “There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” Luke 10:42.

10 years from now you will realize that you wasted a lot of time wondering where you will be in 10 years.... So take one day at a time, enjoy your walk with the Lord and do not forget to keep an eye out for your brother/sister in Christ. Keep your selfishness in check and guard your heart fiercely for the days ahead are indefinitely evil.

Yours in His service,

#Martha

Five Loaves and Two Fish

The young boy hearing the sermon of Jesus just had five loaves and two fish. What could he make out of it? When he offered it to Jesus, it was multiplied. This was one of the biggest miracles that the people saw during the ministry of Jesus. It was indeed amazing to see that this little amount of food was used to feed more than five thousand people. Praise God!

Quite often we complain about what we lack. I wish I had a lot of money and I would have given so much to the Lord. I wish I had a good voice so that I could sing for the Lord. The list of our wishes and wants go on and on like that. But have we ever looked at what we already have? It might be true that you do not have the talent to preach like Billy Graham or the ability so sing like Don Moen. But haven’t you any talent at all? Isn’t there any loaf and fish in your plate that could be shared or multiplied? It is a fact that we all have some talents unique to us but often we deny it.

The young boy didn’t think a lot when he offered his food to the Lord. He did not argue or hold back what was dear to him. He offered freely in faith what he had without any grumbling. Some of us argue that there are so many out there to do the Lord’s ministry. What difference would I make by doing something? I am an ordinary believer and I wouldn’t be able to create any impact. The question is whether you have tried offering what you have to the Lord. The young boy did his part and five thousand were fed. You may never know the impact of offering what you have. Life is too short to grumble and waste. Jesus mentions in his parables about the man who hid his talents in the ground and was punished when his master returned. There is a day when our master will surely return and we would have to give an account of our lives to Him. So what about the five loaves and two fish that I gave you? Did you offer it to build God’s kingdom? How did you bring me glory with what you have?

“Take me and use as I am

Well it’s all I have to offer and it’s all I have to give

Two hands one heart

One life to offer you

Two hands one heart that’s what I give to You

Little becomes a lot

When it’s in Your hands”

Me, Mine, Ours...!!

This photo caption on a social media feed took my attention. It is a perfect caption for a family picture but I began to ponder upon the message that this caption holds. We are living in a world of nuclear families and selfish individuals where the boundaries of relations are often confined. A lot of families and individuals tend to themselves in this context. There is a lot of me, mine and ours where personal interests are paramount.

The words of Apostle James are noteworthy here in Philippians 2:4 "Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interest of others". The early church stood out in this regard. They were selfless and had everything in common. There was so much of sharing and caring for one another and the world knew Christians for their unique character. The character of Christ and his teachings were so much in action through the lives of these selfless individuals, families and churches. However in modern times, Christ professing individuals have forgotten to adapt christian values in their lives. Personal interests are more important than those of others. There is more of me and less of us. The world is seeing less of Christ and more of self resulting in the loss of christian testimony in our communities. We are all often busy in our own lives that we do not even bother to say a greeting to our neighbor next door. We might communicate within our own family circles or churches but the world is seldom hearing Christ or feeling his touch in their lives.

The world needs a healing touch, they need someone to hear out their pain, to wipe their tears, to share words of love and compassion, to be a beacon of light in a world of darkness,to be their all ears and eyes. There is so much of hatred and cruelty in this world. As the salt of the world, it is the duty of the believers to bind the wounds of individuals that are hurt. They need to hear the message of the gospel. They need to see Jesus Christ who saves and not merely a mere person in history remembered for Christmas or Easter. The world still waits for individuals who can selflessly showcase Jesus Christ in action. May the selfless love and compassion of Jesus Christ esteeming other individuals than oneself pour out freely through our lives and into the needy around us.

More than Cakes,Carols and Santa...

 

It's that time of the year again...Christmas! Christmas reminds us of cakes, carols, Santa, Christmas trees, gifts, parties and a lot of fun. But amidst all the festivities, the message of Christmas is often overshadowed. The message of Christmas is one of hope and peace in a broken world where we have lost all hopes. There is a lot of suffering around the world today especially with wars, terrorism, natural calamities, outbreak of fatal diseases and so on. World leaders are rallying to organize numerous summits to resolve conflicts and ensure peace and stability. But the sad part is that there is no peace in the world even today.

2016 years ago, there appeared a man on the face of this earth. He was no ordinary person but He chose to be born in a manger and into a very poor family. There were ordinary people all around Him although He was the King of Kings. He was raised in Nazareth, one of the poorest villages of Palestine. Christmas marks the celebration of the birth of this man who impacted world history like none other, the Lord Jesus Christ. But in fact more than his birth, it is His life that has to be celebrated. His life was a gift to mankind, the greatest gift that is also free to receive. This is something that we miss out in the midst of this celebration. He willingly gave up his life so that man could save himself.

There is a problem more complex than terrorism or AIDS. This is something that cannot be solved by world leaders or the leading intellectuals of this world. The problem is SIN. The problem is complex because it is inherent in the very nature of man. We have a nature that is inherently sinful by birth. There is no medicine that can cure it. There is no treatment that can give remedy to this problem. The Bible says that “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God”.  Does it mean that all mankind are sinners?. How can that be reasonable?. A flashback in time can trace the root cause. It is an undeniable fact that we trace our ancestry to a single family on this earth, the family of Adam and Eve who were the first created human beings on this earth. However, the disobedience of Adam and Eve to God’s command marked the entry of sin into this world and all generations on this earth following them have this very nature. How do we know this? We do not learn to lie, cheat or disobey but these have been our inherent natures that came out so very naturally.

As a result of our sinful nature, we are incapable of overcoming sin on our own abilities. Mankind has been trying so many different things to atone for the sins that pricked their God given conscience. Some say good works can save us from sin, Some say going to a pilgrimage place can forgive sins. But it still doesn’t clear man’s conscience of the guilt of sin. However, the good news is that somebody already paid the punishment of our sins. Jesus was the only person born on this earth with a mission to die for the sins of mankind. Do you know that he took the most gruesome punishment that ever existed on the face of this earth? Have you ever wondered why he had to die that cruel death? The cross is a picture of the punishment for all of mankind’s sins taken upon one person, Jesus Christ. There are animal sacrifices that people offer even today to please God and ask for forgiveness of sins. But they fail to realize that there was a great sacrifice already offered by one person on their behalf. We do not have to do any karma to compensate for our sins. We  have to repent of our sins and believe that sacrifice that of Jesus Christ who  died for our sins on the cross of Calvary.

Jesus did not establish a religion. He established a  way to God, a way which was previously closed because of sin. The only way we can reach God today is not with our good works but through the atonement of His Son, Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, “ I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me”. Jesus offers us peace that can never be lost. There is a hope after death for those who believe in Jesus for He said, “ Those who believe in me though he may die shall live”. May we not miss out on the most important person of Christmas, Jesus Christ.  Jesus said “ Come unto me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest”.  Jesus can heal any broken heart. He can restore any grave sinner. There is hope amidst all the chaos and troubles of this world. A hope of life through the Lord Jesus Christ. May God help you to receive this free gift of life. God bless you all.

Are You Still Running?

So, there is this race.

A 400m sprint. To win this race you have to follow the rules:

1) You have to run within your marked track. No shortcuts

2) To finish this race, you have to reach the finish line. If an athlete fails to reach the finish line, he gets no credit even if he ran faster than the winner. 

So how can you win this race??

• Follow the rules and try not to get disqualified (obviously)
• No matter what, reach the finish line. (because whether fast or slow, the whole point is to complete the race)
• Throw away and avoid anything that is going to slow you down or make you fall. (Tie your shoelaces, watch out for stones or ditches, wear comfortable clothes....)

These are the things you need to do ON track...

Ever imagined what has to be done OFF track?

• Daily exercises
• Good diet (all the obvious and very important things!)

Let us go one or two steps ahead and imagine this is the Olympics.. 

You are training for the ultimate 400m sprint in World history..

Now, what else will you do to make sure you will win?

• I know I would find myself a professional trainer (if i do not have one already)
• I would surround myself with people who are competing for similar races (you know, check out the competition!)
• I would Google the details of all those who have run this race before me in the previous years. People who won medals. People who lost. I would try and find all that there is to know about them - how they trained, what were the difficulties they faced, why they lost- everything. (I might even Youtube their previous races and watch every move they made on their most crucial day)

Can you think of some more ways to "get ahead of this game"?

Hebrews 12:1

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,.."

We are all running a race, a spiritual one - where we look ahead to a finish line that is the Ultimate purpose of God in our lives of faith. Think about all those points we just discussed:

• Following all the race rules 
• Keeping our spiritual body fit with daily feeding from the Living Word of God
• Have good spiritual "Trainers" or Mentors who will guide you to do well
• Surround yourself with people running similar races like your own - Not so that you can be better than them, but so that you can always be encouraged to keep running.
• Learn about all those sprinters who have finished this race ahead of you.. because they form the great cloud of witnesses today who proved that God is eternally faithful, even when we are not. Read about their victories, their failures and how they overcame in the end from the Bible.
• Watch out for every obstacle or hindrance that might come in your way.. Throw away anything that will slow you down or make you fall..

At this point, let us wonder about ourselves..

How long has it been since I started this race? How many years since I began running? 

Am I still running the same race I started 10 or 15 years back? Or am I running another one now?

Am I still running?

I have a message for all those who are in this race..

For all those who have either stopped or slowed down..

"THE RACE IS NOT OVER YET"

Did you notice that the whole point in running this race is to reach the finish line? It's not about whether you came first or not. It is about whether you are still running this race.

Everyone starts out well.. Christian life and testimony all blessed to begin with. The joy of sitting in His presence so satisfying that nothing else matters. But over time, we slow down. We fall. If we choose to give up at this point, we will fail to reach the full purpose of Him who created us. There is no credit if you gave up on this race halfway through.

So, will we win this race, even if we fall?

Yes we will. As long you keep running and reach that finish line - YOU WILL WIN.

Let us consider the different hindrances and sins that affect us in this race, so that we can be more alert of what is happening around us today. All sins are hindrances but not all hindrances are sin. Actually, all hindrances might eventually lead to sin.

Our practical list of sins are easy to identify, like black and white - A few examples: Lying to superiors at work or lying to parents or children, cheating in exams or with money, stealing, envying people around us, coveting what they have, pride of being part of a good Christian family or heritage, - to round it all up - Lust of the flesh, Lust of the eyes and the Pride of life..  

These things are never going to get you to that Finish line.

What could the hindrances be? I came up with a list of my own - 

• A 'workaholic' attitude (being too busy to simply focus on a higher purpose in life or to look ahead to that finish line),
• Loving family or friends more than God Himself (so much that you change tracks and start running in directions that they want you to run, instead of what He has planned for you to do),
• Fear of death, sickness, failures (simply wondering if it will be all worth it in the end)...

I am sure with a lot of reflecting you can come up with some of your own too..

Now, what is the first reaction to tripping and falling in real life? 

Anyone who falls will always look around first to see if there were any witnesses to the embarrassing event. At least if the person is conscious and not in too much pain! Then comes the choice to whether get up from the ground or not..  

Even in our spiritual life, we do not want others to see or hear of our falls.

Our failures. Sometimes, we choose to pretend it never happened, even with God. 

Psalm 32:3-5  

"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away

through my groaning all day long.

For day and night your hand was heavy on me;

my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.

Then I acknowledged my sin to you

and did not cover up my iniquity.

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.”

And you forgave the guilt of my sin."

The joy of forgiveness can be experienced only in true confession that comes with a commitment not to continue in sin.

Psalm 32:1,2

"Blessed is the one

    whose transgressions are forgiven,
    whose sins are covered.

Blessed is the one
    whose sin the Lord does not count against them
    and in whose spirit is no deceit."

1 John 1:10

"If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us."

But read this verse that is more familiar to us:

1 John 1:9

" If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."

God wants to forgive us. He offered His Son- Jesus Christ on that cross, to die instead of us just so that He could offer us pardon. He has forgiven every sin on that Calvary Cross so that He could have us for His own.

But if Christ has already forgiven us, then why should we keep confessing our sins to Him?

• Every time we confess, we "take sides with God", we recognize our sin as truly sin and we show that we are willing to turn away from it.
• With every confession we clear all the dark clouds of sin so that the Joy of being in the 'warm sunlight' presence of our God becomes more attractive to us. (Psalm 51:12 "Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit.")
• It helps us to recognize our tendency to sin and rely on more on His power to overcome it. Sinning is always a possibility for a child of God, not a necessity.

Let me encourage you with these words..

1 Corinthians 1:8-9 "He will also keep you firm to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful, who has called you into fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord."

Philippians 1:6 "being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."

Our God is faithful, and He will always continue to be faithful.

"Therefore, strengthen your feeble arms and weak knees. “Make level paths for your feet,” so that the lame may not be disabled, but rather healed."

Hebrews 12:12-13

Let us get up from where we have fallen today. Let us strengthen our weak arms and legs so that we can run this race to the finish. 

The race is not over yet.

Keep running :)

#Martha

Failure..Feel like giving up?.Do I have another chance?...

 

It was the qualifying heat of the 5000 m women’s heat at the Rio Olympics held in July this year. After several months of intense preparation, some of the world’s best female athletes were at the starting point on the race track to compete in this long distance race. As the race progressed to around 3000m with a few more laps left something unfortunate happened. New Zealand’s runner Nikki Hamblin and American counterpart Abbey D’Agostino had a collision on the race track which led both of them to fall on the race track. Abbey was able to get up get up quickly but Nikki lay on the ground. What happened next, surprised everyone. Abbey ran to Nikki and helped her to get on her feet. She gently said to her “ This is the Olympic race, Get up we need to finish this”. Although limping due to the fall, Abbey and Nikki progressed to finish the race at last. Surprisingly, they qualified for the finals based on petitions from both teams. Although, they didn’t win the finals, they were awarded the “Pierre De Coubertin” Olympic medal for displaying the spirit of sportsmanship which has been only given out 17 times in Olympic history.

Failure..! That’s the last thing we would want to talk about. Why talk about failures when we have a lot of better things to think about?. We have a human tendency to cover up failures and only portray success. That is what we see from the beginning of time in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve hid from the presence of God and tried to cover up their mistakes. But we see a righteous God who continues to pursue a sinful man even when all his efforts ended up in failure. We have numerous biographies of people in the Bible. The uniqueness of the Word of God is that it shows people just as they were including both their failures and successes irrespective of their background. The Bible doesn’t say that everything went right with people but it rightly shows the increasing human tendency to commit mistakes. We see that many men of God committed mistakes like Abraham, David, Moses, Elijah etc. There were many people who were big failures in life in the genealogy of Jesus Christ and even in the Hebrews 11 in the list of the heroes of faith. Why were they counted as righteous? Because God displayed His love for us while we still sinners, while we were still without strength so that the power of God’s grace might be displayed in our lives. It is the transforming power of God’s grace that we see in every situation. Where our efforts failed, where we ended up in failure, there we see the power of God’s grace empowering our weaknesses to strengths. We see ordinary people in the Bible who failed miserably but being used in extraordinary ways.

Elijah’s Example ( I Kings 19:4)

Here, Elijah had just completed a successful ministry at Mount Carmel. He was able to see Gods power and providence there. But we see here that he became afraid because of the words of Jezebel. I Kings 18 is filled with the Mount Carmel experience, the blessed experience of God showing his victory over the false prophets of Baal. He is in a higher spiritual ground right on the top of the mountain. But, in the next chapter we see a big contrast. Here, Elijah has run away from Jezebel and come to Beersheba, the desert. The lonely empty experience of the desert. What happened to the mighty Elijah?

He wanted to die. He thought of himself as a failure. We see how quickly Elijah has changed from being a mighty one used by God in chapter 18 to wanting to end his life in this chapter. The amazing thing here is God does not give up on him even when he wanted to end his life. God prepares food for him (v.6). He walks for 40 days and comes to the mountain of God in Horeb where he tries to hide in a cave having given up all hope. But still God never gives up on Him. He asked Elijah “ What are you doing here, Elijah.?”. God displays his power to Elijah on the mountain. He restores him back with his assuring Word.

Elijah could not see his life beyond the words of Jezebel. That was it. The queen of the land had decided to kill him and he was sure that will all her influence in the land he was going to be captured and killed. But we see that God had greater plans for Elijahs life. We often go into failure not knowing what the future holds . We are not to sit here and perish just like the others of this world. God had greater purposes still to be accomplished in the life of Elijah even when he had given upon himself. We might think that we are big failures. We have repeated the same mistakes over and over again. But , God wants to remind us that he wants to begin a new chapter in our lives. He wants to accomplish His purposes in our lives even when we find ourselves in the desert in Beersheba, in the cave disappointed of being a failure, running away from what God wants to do in our life. He wishes to bring us to Mount Horeb. He wishes to use us for the expansion of His kingdom. Today God asks us the same question he asked to Elijah in the cave, “ What are you doing here Elijah ?”. Elijah had a great ministry ahead of him. He was given the task of appointing Kings, anointing Elisha as the next prophet etc. Elijah was asked to come out from the cave and stand on the mountain. God wants to come out of our comfort zones and rise up. There are many ministries lying ahead for us. He wants to use us in ways we wouldn’t imagine. The question is Are we ready or Are we still in the cave of our life?

Some important realizations we need to understand regarding failures

We have an increasing tendency to commit mistakes because of our inherent sinful nature. (Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall- I Cor 10:11)

We may commit countless mistakes, but it is important that we rise up from our mistakes immediately (For though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again-Proverbs 24:16)

God never gives up on us even when we fall. (Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down; For the Lord upholds him with His hand- Psalms 37: 24)

God’s grace is sufficient to cover our failures no matter how far we have gone (In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace- Ephesians 1:7)
 

'Prone to wander Lord I feel it

Prone to leave the God I love

Here's my heart, O take and seal it

Seal it for thy courts above'

(Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing, Robert Robinson)

 God Bless you..!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

Did you not know that I must be about My Father's business?

It was the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem. People flooded the city from all over the land of Israel. There were a lot of happenings in the city.The family of young Jesus also decided to be part of the festivities as was their custom every year.

The Joseph's family spend an entire week in the city having been part of all the festivities.Now it was time to go home. The children complained to Joseph "Dad, Is it already time to get back?. We were just getting to know our new friends here in the city. We don't want to go home. The city is so much fun.". But there was no use complaining to Dad as he had already started packing the luggages. Mom intervened and whispered to the children, " Don't worry. We will get back here next year too. Guess what..We are stopping at Simon's hotel on the way to have grilled fish and yummy z'aatar ." Mommy's promise silenced the kids and they all began to pack up, excited about their stop on the way.So as the family packed up and was on their homeward journey for about a day, they notice that Jesus was missing. This would have been the last thing Joseph and Mary would have wanted to know.They enquired with their neighbours from the village who were also along with the family in the journey. Now they asked young 'Yohan' who was also a friend of Jesus. "I haven't seen him for a while", complained Yohan. The entire family was worried. Where could he possibly go?. He was not with his friends. He was not found with any of his relatives as well. Mary started to weep and cry miserably. Was he kidnapped?. Did he lose his way? Weren't I supposed to take care of  God's precious gift to me?.Many thoughts ran through Mary's mind."I need my Son, I need him. " cried Mary to Joseph.

Joseph needed to make a decision. They decided to travel all the way back to Jerusalem to search for him in the city. They enquired at the inn they stayed in , went to the children's playground, the Jerusalem market, at their relative Zachariah's house. He wasn't there anywhere. They asked everyone they saw on the way if they had seen the young Jesus.It was so hard to find a person in the city, save a young child. The children were happy they were back in the city but were worried about their elder brother whom they called 'Yeshua'. " Now what do we do", cried out .James. Two days had passed and there was no sign of Jesus. They decided to spend one more day in the city. That night Mary wept bittterly and prayed "O Lord God only if you could show us where Jesus is, we promise to take care of Him so dearly and lovingly for the rest of our lives".

The next day morning, Joseph and Mary decided to go to the temple to pray. Now as they entered the temple, they found a familar face sitting along with the priests and scribes. Wasn't it Jesus?. With tears of joy,Mary hurried to Jesus. Jesus was found listening to the teachers and asking them questions."Jesus", cried out Mary and ran to embrace him. "Son why have you done this to us. We were so worried about you", said Mary.

Jesus answered, "Why did you seek me? , Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business". The answer surprised Jesus parents and they did not understand why he made such a statement. They did not have time to think about it. They had to travel back a long distance. They started on their backward journey. Everyone was so happy. Mary made sure that she did not make another mistake and always kept an eye on Jesus on the way back. But what Jesus said continued to stir her thoughts. Why would he say like that? What was going on at the temple?

The answer continues to ponder our thoughts even today. The young Jesus was so bold in his statement to his parents. As a young boy, he had so many other things that he could have done in the city. But he chose to be at the temple of God with the priests and scribes. What an unlikely place for a young boy to be?. But Jesus knew his priorities. Even at his young age, he was careful to make the right choice.As young men of God, we have a lot of choices with us today. There is a lot of business happening around us that continue to attract us more than the business of God. We rush through each day trying to meet our ends, worried about our children's future, investing in the pleasures and passions of this world, busy with everything that we can possibly be with except the things of God. We complain that we have no time. But we care to find time for everything that we like from entertainment to sports and what not. Do we show the same dilligence for the things of God?. We too can observe the Feast of the Passover just like Jesus parents did. They observed the feast and had all the fun. But the most important part was missing, to remember the God of the Passover.

Do we forget the God of the Passover today?. We might go to worship meetings each week and remember the Lord as a custom. But what God requires is truly more than that. Do we truly go about the Father's business like Jesus?. He knew his priorites. He had a mission. He had no time to waste.In the hue and cry to meet our livelihoods, do we miss doing the father's business?. All other business is of the world and perishes just as the world. Are you found today busy in the Father's business?.