(Further reflection on “Satisfaction & Abundance”—Sunday 8-Jan-2023)
When God created the world, He
ordered and blessed it. He formed this earthly planet beautifully and magnificently in order. He made and placed Adam and Even in an orderly Garden. His blessing was flowing as they live in God’s presence with one simple command that they must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (cf. Genesis 2:17). There was ‘shalom’—peace, order, and harmony. But they disobeyed one, single, God’s command and the whole creation was no longer in order. The immediate consequences of their sins were shame and guilt as they tried to cover their nakedness. The next thing was their children’s disobedience which led to jealousy, anger, and murder (Cain killed Abel). The first family was messed up. And since then, disorder and disruption have been the norm in any given family and society till the second/last ‘Adam’—Jesus Christ came to redeem the ‘shalom’- first between God and man and later the whole creation (cf. Romans 8:22-23).
God’s provision, feeding the large crowd (more than five thousand), flowed from the disciples’ obedience with even just small sacrifices of five loaves of bread and two fish (Luke 9:10-17). People received it peacefully, joyfully, and fully, because they did it in order. They sat down in unity and harmony. Each person was responsible for the other. Imagine if the crowd was ‘hangry’ crowd (hungry and probably angry due to possibly the slow distribution), a stampede could have happened. Instead of provision and blessing, it could have been disaster and curse if order was not in place. Jesus’ provision and distribution happened because the disciples served and instructed the crowd to follow and to keep things in order.
God’s blessing over your life and our church will depend significantly on both personal obedience during weekday and communal obedience when we gather as the Body of Christ, the local church—the assembly the saints, the congregation of the righteous by faith. Satisfaction and abundance will be experienced in various aspects of our life and the life of our church. Individuals will be satisfied with God’s provision and they will be abundantly blessed. This reality will be certain if and when God’s people will put their lives in order according to God’s word and live in unity and harmony in His Body—the church.
May we all experience God’s provision and blessing as we continue to obey His Word and conduct our lives in an orderly/godly manner.
—
Pastor Lap
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