The New Way

 

It really helped me to understand this passage when I read this story somewhere.

 

Imagine that you are a slave to a very rich man back in Jesus' time period in history. Your master says,” Sit here on the floor and wait for me to tell you what to do.”

 

Let's imagine that there are 10 of us sitting and waiting for our master's orders.  Occasionally, he would call someone by name and ask them to complete a task.  After a while you get tired of just sitting and waiting, so you decide to get up and straighten the books in the bookshelf because they need it.  You realize that it would probably be a good idea to alphabetize them, too.  So, you get really involved in sorting and making it perfect.  You get so involved that you didn't hear your name called by the master when he needed you for a task.

 

Did you know that the master has a legal right to beat you to death for not being available when he called?  There would be no explanation of what you were doing or why – you would be severely beaten for disobedience.  Your last order was to sit and wait.  You disobeyed.  End of discussion.  You could also be beaten to death for touching the master's books without permission.

 

 

You see, today, we have no comprehension of what it means to be obedient to a master.  People in Jesus' day understood!

 

Jesus doesn't want our opinion on what needs to be done.  He wants our obedience.

 

Don't confuse doing things “for Jesus” with doing what He has called you to do.

 

It's so easy to follow SELF automatically.   We must really tune our ears to hear the Holy Spirit.

 

Jesus said, “Only one thing is needed.”  What do you think He thought was of most importance?