I am going to blog!!
That’s right… i have neither an exam or assignment due tomorrow or on monday … why.. coz i decided to finally put up a point against procrasination
so right now the standings are!
1729182 to procrastination : 1 to justin doing his assignment before the night before 
Quite a good feeling… actually more like GREAT feeling!
and with that i am one assignment away from completing ALL my assessment and then its time to put on a dress, a funny hat and GRADUATE!
But I really wanted to blog about my time reading through the book of Matthew. As a life group we agreed to read one chapter of Matthew a day and then write a little note about that chapter. It could of been a verse that stuck out, something we didn’t know but do now or even if we didn’t find the chapter very interesting… why…
I recently read through Matthew 25 which has:
- The Parable of the 10 Virgins
- The Parable of the Talents
- The Sheep and the Goats
I definitely knew the first 2, and the 3rd parable has the famous “whatever you did for the least of these you did for me.”
At the core of these parables are the principles of being prepared and ready, using the things God has given us to get more and to serve others. But what I never realised was the full context of these parables. In Matthew 24 Jesus talks about the Day and the Hour Unknown and chapter 25 follows on directly from this chapter and all the parables actually refer to Jesus telling his disciples that no one, not even the himself know when He will return.
I started to think that these parables are guidelines for the kind of questions God will ask us when we meet him. He will ask us how ready we were for him. The recent death of surfing world champion Andy Irons reminded me that no one, not even the most elite sportsmen with celebrity status is in control of their life. It’s not about knowing when you’ll die or when Jesus will come back and then running out and figuring out your salvation… its about being ready now!
He will come back expecting us to have done something with ourselves. Isaiah says that God knitted us in the womb, that he formed us and Jeremiah tells us that God has a plan and purpose for our life! God is the ultimate programmer, he knows exactly what we’re good at, what we’re not good at. He chose the country, parents, socio-economic status, school, circle of friends, accidents, trips everything he did for a purpose! This parable reminds me that God’s isn’t looking for a 100% return on his investment in us… he is looking for us to do something with our lives and bring a profit to our lives so that he can celebrate with us.
Lastly the sheep and the goats is all about people. It’s about God’s heart for those in need and serving others. I’m thinking… we feel good when we selflessly help others because Jesus can feel it and he probably shoots us some love our way… When we meet God his gonna ask us when we served others in need.
I think these three parables sum up the greatest commandments
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul
Love your neighbour as yourself
The first parable is about our Spiritual lives, loving God always and anticipating his return
The second parable is about Stewardship and using what we have to bring a profit to God because we love him
The third parable is about our neighbours and serving them as much as we would serve ourselves.
The Bible is so practical at the end of the day Jesus wanted our lives to move on from the practices and live out the principles.
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