11.20.14

And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. - Galatians 6:9 NKJV. 

God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. - Acts 10:38 NKJV. 

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. - Ephesians 2:8-10 NKJV. 

Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” - Matthew 9:36-37 NKJV. 

Lucas Patchett and Nicholas Marchesi who live in Australia have created a mobile laundry service for the homeless. They have installed an industrial washer in dryer in the back of their van. (Yahoo News 11.10.14) A millionaire from Korea living in Bahrain wakes up before dawn every morning to…clean the streets. He says he has been doing this for 11 years because there is a lot of garbage and it makes people sick. (Elite Daily 11.06.14) Mark Bustos a hair stylist in New York uses his Sunday day off to give haircuts and shaves to the homeless. In eastern Zhejiang Province of China passers-by banded together to lift a car off of a woman trapped in an accident. Give, the United States and Myanmar have a 64% generosity rating, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Australia also are generous in their giving (Yahoo News 11.18.14). 

Searching for stories about people doing good things, I quickly realized there are far more stories about people doing bad things than good things. This points to the need for us Christians to be more proactive in following the example of our Lord by going about doing good in every way that we can. I like the motto of Charles Wesley and think that it should be the motto of every child of God: “Do all the good you can: By all the means you can; In all the ways you can; In all the places you can; At all the times you can; To all the people you can; As long as ever you can.” 

Sadly, before many of us can do good to others we need to stop doing bad to others. Jabez recognized this problem and we are told this in 1 Chronicles 4:10 NKJV, “And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, ‘Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!’ So God granted him what he requested.” If you have been causing more pain than good in the lives of others, pray the prayer of Jabez every day and it will change your life. If you want to increase the amount of good that you are doing in the lives of others, pray the prayer of Jabez every day and God will enlarge your territory empowering you to do more good.

Doing good things will not save your soul as Ephesians 2:8-10 makes clear; however, we become new creations (2 Corinthians 5:17; Ephesians 2:10) in Jesus to follow His example of doing good. What is the greatest good that you can do in another person’s life? Share Jesus with them! There is nothing wrong with the harvest, just a lack of workers.