Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

Expression of Mission


Vivin Varghese
Staten Island MTC, NY
15 I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord God. 

In the book of the prophet Ezekiel we see an all too familiar sign; a group of people who are in exile due to their choices and deeds. If we think about it, is the situation we are living in any different?  We are surrounded by those living in spiritual exile. We live among a large number of people whose lives are as hopeless like the lives of the Israelites in Babylon. The question is what are we doing as Christians in the midst of this state of hopelessness?  From the beginning of this chapter God calls to account the shepherds who are not responsibly tending their flock. God continues to describe his people who suffer due to the lack of a shepherd. By the end of the portion God says, “I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd.”  Here, God promises the Messiah who will be the true shepherd (John 10:11).

This Shepherd, Jesus, then gives the commission to his disciple Peter, “Feed my sheep.” (John21:7) We as disciples of the same Shepherd are commissioned to do likewise.  We have to be careful with such an important mission to not fall into the patterns of the self-serving shepherds from the days of Ezekiel of whom God says, “Woe to the shepherds of Israel who only take care of themselves!”

God’s mission of reconciling mankind to Himself was completed through Jesus Christ?  Jesus accomplished the mission; we continue to be the face of that mission today.  It is not only our deeds including giving to charity or the mission fields we participate in, our lives must reflect God’s salvation. Only then can we be an expression of mission.  For this expression to be a true representation, we must first truly experience the salvation of God. We must ask ourselves, “Am I ready?”


PRAYER


Heavenly Father we thank you for grace mercy and love. We ask that you watch over us and use us to spread your word to others. We ask that you also give us the strength and courage to be prepared and ready to answer the call to serve you. Amen. 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
Christ's has invited us to be an expression of mission. Do we live a life that is worthy of answering that call?

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