UPDATED Today’s Spiritual Food for Thought, written by Pastor Sam Lee who leads Catalyst Agape Church in Northern New Jersey, was first posted on October 23, 2013. He is a graduate of University of Wisconsin (B.A.) and Biblical Theological Seminary (M.Div.).
Spiritual Food for Thought for the Weekend
“Be Aware of the Devil’s Clever Trick; Don’t Lose Your Mission Over It”
John 4:31-35
Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” 33 So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” 34 Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. 35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Introduction: To the extent that going through trials and tribulations increases people’s receptivity toward anything that promises hope, the post COVID-19 world will likely present churches with an unprecedented opportunity to win people to the Lord through the preaching of and living out the gospel. With that in mind read Pastor Sam’s blog.
This passage, where Jesus talks to the Samaritan woman in John 4, inspires me regarding missions. When Jesus reached out to the Samaritan woman, he broke the boundaries of ethnicity, culture, hatred and conflict, and issues between the male and female sexes. Although his disciples forgot their sense of missions and were more concerned about what they should eat for lunch, Jesus told them, “My food (my mission) is to do the will of Him who sent me to finish His work.”
The disciples probably thought that this was not the time to do missions, especially not in Samaria. So, to them, it was neither the right place nor the right time to reach out; rather, it was time to eat. And, more than anything else, she was not the right person, not this Samaritan woman, “for”, as John noted, “Jews have no dealings with Samaritans” (Jn. 4:9).
What am I getting at? You know, we are just too smart for the devil to convince us that we shouldn’t make disciples –we will never accept that. But “we are not unaware of his schemes” (2 Cor. 2:11), for what the devil does is to whisper into our ears, saying, “Don’t do it here; don’t do it now; and not that person.” Yet, if we can’t or won’t make disciples here and now, we will not be able to make disciples in another country, or in the post COVID-19 America that may make us feel as if we are living in a different country. Be aware of the Devil’s clever trick; don’t lose your mission over it.
In closing, note that as soon as the Samaritan woman put her faith in Jesus, she immediately reached the whole town: “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony” (John 4:39). This is to say, for the Samaritan woman whose life was as broken as yours or that of someone you know, “now” was the right time, the right place, and the right people whose lives were just as broken as hers. The post-COVID 19 America—full of broken lives—will be the right time and place to preach and live out the good news of Jesus Christ.
Prayer: Lord, remind us to start praying for the harvest of lost souls. Lord, motivate us to desire a life of sowers and reapers of your gospel in the post COVID-19 America. Seriously! Amen.
Bible Reading for Today: Acts 27-28.
Hardly any Christians would say publicly, “I am not going to bother God with my petty problems when He must be so busy running the universe”—more so now amid the global pandemic.
Before you turn in for the night, consider this: How are you living as a steward of the great mystery that has been revealed to you?
As the coronavirus pandemic rages across the globe, many of us are glued to our news feeds.
Reflect upon your day.
One virtue solely needed in the post COVID-19 world will be patience because everything that so quickly crumbled to the ground—jobs, small-businesses, lifesavings—will not easily be recovered.
Let’s raise some questions in view of what was touched upon this afternoon. How would describe your Bible reading habit?
As most of us are spending much more time at home than ever before, perhaps initially we thought this could be a time of extra productivity.
Reflect on your day. Were there times when you were discouraged and avoided God or others because you felt like a disappointment?
In the midst of the lockdowns and quarantines, there has been some expected good news. In normally overcrowded and bustling cities all around the world, people are hearing birds chirping for the first time in ages. In many places, mountain ranges are now visible because the smog has lifted, due to the lack of emissions from cars, power plants and factories. The water in the famed canals of Venice has typically been murky from pollution and overcrowding from tourism, but now due to all the shutdowns, the water is now crystal clear, so much so that people can see the fish swimming in them. To quote this Chronicles passage, it seems that the world is enjoying its first Sabbath in a long time.
In this season, I believe God wants us to reconsider what or who defines our lives.
There are many covenants between God and man that we see in the Bible, such as the rainbow covenant between God and Noah, the Abrahamic covenant between God and Abraham, the Mosaic covenant between God and Moses, and so forth. While each of these covenants was made primarily between one individual and God, they had far reaching implications for humanity. In this Psalm, this particular covenant shows how God will persevere with the line of David and establish the house of David. Even with severe chastisements, God will establish the line of David. We see the ultimate fulfillment of this in Jesus, who is also called the Son of David.
Amid social distancing necessitated by COVID-19, touching someone without consent is sure to raise the ire of the person touched. And it’s not inconceivable to imagine the offended person calling for the police. It was no less scandalous or offensive in the days of Jesus in situations where a person deemed unclean (e.g., lepers or women suffering from hemophilia) touched clean people, thereby making them unclean.
As I am now isolated at home with my family, on a rare occasion during the day, I’ll have a free moment to sit down in my home office and try to do some work (like writing this devotional).
These days of quarantining and self-isolation have been challenging for many of us.
What irritates me the most about politicians and mainstream media amid COVID-19 pandemic is the tit-for-tat blaming game they all play.