THE GOD OF ORDER
THE GOD OF ORDER.
In these times I know of a lot of people who have started keeping insanely late nights! People are still awake at 3 am from the day before. It is a very disorderly thing to do that can easily become a habit which will have debilitating consequences. If you have been doing this, please desist before it gets out of control or requires medical intervention. (Yes! Seriously.)
As believers and followers of Jesus Christ, we are to “follow” the examples of our Lord and Saviour. I do not think there is or has ever been or ever will be any human being under more pressure than Jesus; (let us remember that He came in human flesh)
He knew what His assignment was (reconciliation of God to man)
He knew how it was going to be done (death on a cross)
He knew the time to prepare disciples to carry on after Him was short
He knew all these and much more. He was surrounded by people to teach, heal and sort out. But He always found time for the most important things.
Jesus Christ, our Lord had a habit of praying in the mornings. He would always go away and be by Himself just so that there were no distractions. “Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.” Mark 1:35 NLT Without any doubt He prayed at other times too. “Yet He frequently withdrew to the wilderness to pray.” Luke 5:16 KJV The use of the adverb “frequently” tells us that the number of times cannot be counted. So we all need to take prayer more seriously if we have not been doing that. It’s great to start the day with it but if for any reason there are constraints, any time of the day is fine. So let us make time and pray.
Jesus always rested. He took rest seriously. “And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.” Mark 6:31 KJV Jesus understood that to be able to do His Father’s work here on earth, physical well being was important. He was sleeping through a storm until his disciples woke Him. We therefore should not drive ourselves to an early grave. He tells us this: “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11 28- NLT Jesus always went away or encouraged His disciples to rest. What is burdening you now, take it to Jesus. And when we do this, we will be refreshed. “When you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you rest, your sleep will be sweet.” Proverbs 3:24 New American Standard Bible
The fact that most of us are still at home is not an excuse to be a bit careless in our daily activities. If care is not taken things will get out of hand. Paul admonishes us to do things the right way. “But be sure that everything is done properly and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:40 NLT
Total or partial lock down is no reason to carry on as if we were on a vacation. Even if the whole world seems confused right now, then more than ever before we should follow the example of Jesus and do the right thing. On our own part let us bring some order into our lives. “God wants everything to be done peacefully and in order.” 1 Corinthians 14:33a
Order and rest work hand in hand. At creation, we are told that the earth was devoid of any form. Simply put, there was no order. We know our God is orderly and He promptly set to work putting things in order. When things are done properly and orderly it is good. “Then God looked over all he had made, and he saw that it was very good! And evening passed and morning came, marking the sixth day.” Genesis 1: 31 NLT And right after that God rested. “On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested from all his work.” Genesis 2:2 NLT Note how Jesus too always rested at the end of the day.
When things are out of order problems loom on the horizon. When kings were supposed to go to war in spring and David stayed back, he set the course for disaster – adultery and murder.
Let us start our day right with prayer. And when we set things in order it will be a good day then getting adequate rest at the end of the day will not be a problem. For those of us with young children order is very good for them. If you were ever in boarding school you know how beneficial the daily routines were.
I pray the God of order will helps us to achieve this.
OLUYINKA EGO-MARTINS ©