30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 15 11-32 To seek and the save the lost - The prodigal son 10 Reaching out to those, who are hurting
📖 Luke 15:11-32
21Feb2020 - *Reaching out to those, who are hurting* - _Luke 15:11-32_ - Bible reading: _Jeremiah 31:18-19_
_Luke 15:16-17 And he would gladly have filled his stomach with the pods that the swine ate, and no one gave him anything. (17) "But when he came to himself, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!_
Many things could have brought this young man to the point of breaking down but It was hunger that made him consider. God, out of His love, brings people around to the point, where they consider. Our task, as disciples of Jesus, is to be there, when people are at their lowest point in life and to help them come back to the living waters. This is the reason, why Jesus was with the outcasts of society, so that at the time they consider, He could help them return. This is our task too.
_II Timothy 2:25-26 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, (26) and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will._
_Isaiah 55:1-2 “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, Come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk Without money and without price. (2) Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, And let your soul delight itself in abundance._
There is no necessity for people to hit rock bottom in life and then to consider and repent. God does not want people to reach such painful circumstances in order to repent. He desires that we always remain in His shelter, under His authority, in submission of our will to His will, but man chooses otherwise and faces the consequences of his choices.
_Jeremiah 31:18-19 “I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself: 'You have chastised me, and I was chastised, Like an untrained bull; Restore me, and I will return, For You are the LORD my God. (19) Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.'_
_Ezekiel 18:27-28 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. (28) Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die._
The religious leaders, to whom these parables were addressed, could not connect with this situation of the younger son, for they had never reached the ‘pig sty’. What was there for them to repent from? This is the reason why it is the harlots and sinners, who will enter His kingdom and those who consider themselves clean, to be left out.
Nevertheless, our task as disciples of Jesus is to be there, where people are hurting, our task is to wage warfare against spiritual forces of darkness and release people, who are being held by satan in captivity and our task is to lead people to the living waters.
*Thought to ponder*
```Is your disposition that of reaching out to those, who are hurting?```