Blessed are the one-handed

I always wonder how would life be for those with only one hand and for those who have neither; how much difficult it must be for them. There are this two people in the campus, where I live, who have only one hand. One is a small child of 6 or 7 years old and the other is a 35+ year old man. Whenever I see them, I start feeling very sad for them. And I am sure that most people reading this would also share my feeling for them.

The little one, is a very sweet and a cute girl. She is always jubilant. The other day when my wife and I were talking about her, she said these things about her which amazed me. One day, she had struggled to wear one of her dresses and my wife had gone to help her. But she refused. Only then she noticed that she was actually not struggling to wear, but was practicing to button and unbutton her dress, so that she could do it with ease! She was doing this when she was just four years old. Amazing isn’t it. And she keeps doing the same with many other things. She engages herself in practicing all useful activities with one hand. I know that you all would want to know the name of this smart girl – she is Sharon!

The other man, Buddhan, works in our canteen. He makes tea and packs & supplies snack items for the customers. As far as I have known him, he is a very soft spoken person. But he keeps doing his job, as if his handicap is no matter at all.

The reason for their handicap is pitiful. Sharon was abandoned as a new born baby and the dogs ate away her one hand. Buddhan met with an electric accident when he was just eight years old and he lost his arm.

But more than them we are the ones who are to be pitied for – those with two hands. Instead of being thankful to God for the two hands that He has given us, how ungrateful our actions are? How useless and sinful are the activities of our hands? (I leave the reader to introspect here with whatever they are involved in). Does that glorify God? Is this the worthy purpose for which it was created? Would we not be accountable to God one day for all that we do? How wretched are we? Hurting ourselves, hurting others and ultimately hurting God! And at the end living with all that GUILT. The guilt – is this not obvious that we are not living at peace! For some in the long run, guilt turns into becoming indifferent – indifferent to sin itself! Why? “Because everyone does that… I have tried long and hard enough to quit but in vain…”

Don’t give up… We can live at peace… a Guilt-Free life…

“For God did not send His Son (Jesus Christ) into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him.” John 3:17 (ESV)

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:8-9 (ESV)

Jesus said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” Matthew 5:29-30 (ESV)

If Jesus would have said this in the context of the Beatitudes, He would have said it like this,

“Blessed are the one-eyed and one-handed, for they will inherit the kingdom of God”.

Because, “……. unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (ESV)

Made to serve, called to be holy,

Make a choice, to use it worthy;

Sinful use, is an abuse –

Of its purpose & worth reduce;

Lift your heart, lift your hand,

To the Saviour, on the cross who hang;

Sin – a pleasure by your hands,

Shed His blood, pierced nails in His hands;

Guilt and shame, your sin brings,

Pardon and freedom, the Calvary springs;

Cleansed hearts, Cleansed hands,

Cleave to God, be in His bands.

A ten point strategy for those who are struggling with sinful habits– (few points are adapted from one of George Verwer’s writings which I have altered to suit the context)

1. Worship the Lord & Pray everyday
2. Read and Meditate the Bible every day, esp. in the morning and Memorize key Scriptures
3. Exercise daily
4. Maintain balanced eating habits
5. Sleep well & Be active
6. Have specific goals & aims for everyday
7. Use leisure hours to read good books & magazine, listen to messages & praise music
8. Avoid all vulnerable places & people. Do not be lonely (if you are not praying) esp. during travels.
9. Seek the help of the Holy Spirit every moment and repent on a moment-by-moment basis
10. Have regular fellowship & go to Church & find a mature Christian believer with whom you can share your struggles & seek prayer support & counselling

 

Prayer

Two hands one heart
One life to offer You
Two hands one heart
That's what I give to You

Use me today I know You can
Lord I surrender to Your plan
You made this heart
You made these hands
Take me and use me as I am
Well it's all I have to offer
And it's all I have to give

Little becomes a lot
When it's in Your hands
Take me and make me more like You
Well it may not seem like much
But with the Master's touch
I know that I'll be more like You

Shrewd as Snakes, Pure as Pigeons

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NIV)

“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves.” (Matthew 10:16 NKJV)

This was part of the instructions that Jesus gave to His twelve apostles on the day He was sending them out to minister. In our times this can be equated with the graduation speech given in theological seminaries to the graduating seminarians. Before giving them a detailed instruction, Jesus gave them AIM.

1. Authority – He called His twelve disciples to Him and gave them authority…… (Matthew 10:1)

2. Instructions – These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions…… (Matthew 10:5,6)

3. Message – As you go, preach this message……. (Matthew 10:7)

These days many are commissioned (either by the seminaries or by their churches or by themselves) to conduct programs rather than changing people. So ministers are also interested in programs rather than people. Because, they either lack AIM or are unaware of its proper usage or it is misused.

I am not going to go into the details of the AIM in this post, but I will focus on one, but a major instruction that Jesus gave to His apostles, which is very much applicable to all who minister. The reason why this instruction occupies the major portion of Jesus’ instructions here is, He does not want us to be thoroughly occupied with this, but whenever we face it we need to deal with it as a minor (that is not spending much time & energy) and go on concentrating on the major – the work of the gospel.

What did Jesus mean when He said that we should be shrewd as snakes and innocent as doves? Jesus said this in the context of dealing with difficult people. Even as we would go on ministering for the Lord in a far away mission field or in the confines of our office, we will face such people. And most of the time instead of fighting the infernal & invisible enemy, Satan we will be fighting our own people. Instead of focusing on our ministries, we will be spending all our time, energy and thoughts in fuming against and battling our co-labourers. But if we know how to face such people & situations and have a healthy Biblical perspective, our time & resources would be properly utilized and we will be able to accomplish much & all that God wants to do through us.

1. People who do not welcome us or listen to us

Matthew 10:11-15

When someone does not welcome us, we feel bad and when he/she does not listen to us, we might contend with him/her. We might try to prove our point by arguing. But here Jesus does not say “if they do not welcome you or listen to you, argue with them and try to prove your point”. He just says, “walk off”. Many a times we might win the argument, but will lose the person. Contention only brings irritation. The Lord does not want us to carry any irritation against anyone when he/she does not welcome us or listen to us. We need to keep going where He sends us and keep saying what He says to us.

When others do not welcome us or listen to us we are not to contend with them, but to just calm down and come away.

2. People who accuse us

Matthew 10: 17-20

Here the verse does not say that we are accused because we did something wrong. But we are accused on the account of being true to God and His commission. When people accuse us, the natural outcome would be to try prove ourselves. Because we never want others to think bad of us, we would always like to be in the “good books” of others. That is not possible. People WILL accuse us. But we are not to react to such accusations and think it over and over again in our minds and find ways to answer the accusations. Jesus only says, “Do nor worry about what to say or how to say it”.

While answering accusations we should not be self-motivated, but Spirit-motivated.

3. People who hate us

Matthew 10:21-23

We will not only be hated by others but also by our own family members. People hate us because they do not like what we say and what we do. So we might try to change ourselves for them. It might mean, disobeying God and His call, to please people. Jesus says, “but he who stands firm to the end will be saved”. We need to stand firm in obeying God and in decisions that we made for God, until the end.

When we are hated & persecuted we are not supposed to retaliate, but only retire from that place.

4. People who do not value us

Matthew 10:24-31

Here Jesus quotes Himself as an example. If people called Jesus himself as Beelzebub (the prince of demons), how much more will they call us! When we get caught up in the trap of I-need-to-know-what-he-thinks-of-me, we lose focus and purpose. Because instead of trying to spend time in listening from the Lord and hearing His whispers (Matt 10:27), we start listening to gossips & whispers of others about us. But we need to fear God and not men. (Matt 10:28)

We might also get into yet another trap of do-they-value-me-? Jesus says that when we try to value us by others appreciations/depreciations, we consider ourselves less than sparrows! Our value and worth comes from Above and that happens only when our thoughts and actions are God-centred and not self-centred. And only when we are concerned about glorifying God and not us; when we do not worry for ourselves but for God’s reputation and His glory. (Matthew 10:32-33)

Our mental make-up is like that we seek to be counted worthy by others. And that determines our actions & reactions to people. But Jesus says that we need to be “worthy of Him”. (Matthew 10:37-38). The writer of the Hebrews resonates this truth while talking about the heroes of faith, “of whom the world was not worthy” (Hebrews 11:38) For us too to be part of the list of heroes of faith, we need to seek to live a life worthy of Him, not seeking the worth of the world.

And this can happen only when,

1. We take up our cross and follow Jesus (Matt 10:38)

2. We are ready to lose our life for His sake (Matt 10:39)

Having difficult people in our lives is one of the cross that we need to carry. When we are concerned about our life, our reputation, our value, we will lose it. But when we would be willing to lose it all for Christ’s sake we will find it – in Him and we will be able to declare with Paul,

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20 (ESV)