Titus 3:8, ‘This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds. These things are good and profitable for men.’ God wants us to do the good works. We see Mary doing a good deed in, Matthew 26:6-13, ‘ Now when Jesus was in Bethany, at the home of Simon the leper, a woman came to Him with an alabaster vial of very costly perfume, and she poured it on His head as He reclined at the table. But the disciples were indignant when they saw this, and said, “Why this waste? “For this perfume might have been sold for a high price and the money given to the poor.” But Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why do you bother the woman? For she has done a good deed to Me. “For you always have the poor with you; but you do not always have Me. “For when she poured this perfume on My body, she did it to prepare Me for burial. Truly I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.”’
We see here, Mary comes in, brings this perfume, alabaster jar, opens and pours it on Jesus. Disciples were annoyed saying to Mary, ‘why this waste?’ but Jesus says, ‘why do you bother the woman? It is a good work that she has done’. We know, Mary was a person, who learned to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to Him. Jesus always used to talk about, what His Father tells Him, obeying His Father’s will. Mary learned to do this good work, from Jesus, as she saw Him, do the Fathers will. What Mary must be thinking, when she poured out the alabaster vial on Jesus? She might have not planned to do it, for His burial, but she was led to do that act, and it was good. Jesus says, ‘It is a good deed she has done for me and wherever this Gospel is preached, in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be spoken of in memory of her.’ May God help us to do the good works.
Ephesians 2:8, ‘For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.’ We are not saved by our good works but there are good works that He had prepared for us to do. These are the works of our Father. Jesus says in John 9:4, ‘We must work the works of Him who sent Me as long as it is day; night is coming when no one can work.’
Ephesians 5:15-17, ‘Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil. So then do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ‘We see here, ‘making the most of the time’, in other translation we see that it is mentioned as, ‘redeeming the time’, we know that redeeming means, something you pay to get it, as the days are evil.
When we see the life of Jacob, Genesis 47:8,9, ‘Pharaoh said to Jacob, “How many years have you lived?” So Jacob said to Pharaoh, “The years of my sojourning are one hundred and thirty; few and unpleasant have been the years of my life, nor have they attained the years that my fathers lived during the days of their sojourning.”’
We see in other translation that his years were ‘few and evil’ are the days of his sojourning. When we see Jacob’s life, he says, ‘unlike his forefathers, (implying, ‘Abraham and Isaac – they were also strangers in the land.) unlike them, his life was short and evil’. We know Abraham was called by God and was promised land, Canaan.
Genesis 13:5-17, ‘Now Lot, who went with Abram, also had flocks and herds and tents. And the land could not sustain them while dwelling together, for their possessions were so great that they were not able to remain together. And there was strife between the herdsmen of Abram’s livestock and the herdsmen of Lot’s livestock. Now the Canaanite and the Perizzite were dwelling then in the land. So Abram said to Lot, “Please let there be no strife between you and me, nor between my herdsmen and your herdsmen, for we are brothers. Is not the whole land before you? Please separate from me; if to the left, then I will go to the right; or if to the right, then I will go to the left.” Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere—this was before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah—like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt as you go to Zoar. So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan, and Lot journeyed eastward. Thus, they separated from each other. Abram settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley, and moved his tents as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the Lord. The Lord said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, “Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. I will make your descendants as the dust of the earth, so that if anyone can number the dust of the earth, then your descendants can also be numbered. Arise, walk about the land through its length and breadth; for I will give it to you.”’
Abraham allowed Lot to choose the land, he did not grab it. Abraham knew God promised him this land. In Genesis 14, we see there was a fight between a set of 4 kings against a set of 5 kings, Lot was also captured and is taken away. Abraham goes after them and recovers whatever is taken away. He meets Melchizedek. Abraham doesn’t want anything from the loot, he says, v22,’ God is the possessor of heaven and earth’. ‘Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have sworn to the Lord God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,’ Abraham believed God and walked by it and he didn’t try to grab it. Similarly, Isaac also lived.
Genesis 26:18-33, Then Isaac dug again the wells of water which had been dug in the days of his father Abraham, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham; and he gave them the same names which his father had given them. But when Isaac’s servants dug in the valley and found there a well of flowing water, the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with the herdsmen of Isaac, saying, “The water is ours!” So he named the well Esek, because they contended with him. Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over it too, so he named it Sitnah. He moved away from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it; so he named it Rehoboth, for he said, “At last the Lord has made room for us, and we will be fruitful in the land.” Then he went up from there to Beersheba. The Lord appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham.” So he built an altar there and called upon the name of the Lord, and pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well. Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with his adviser Ahuzzath and Phicol the commander of his army. Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?” They said, “We see plainly that the Lord has been with you; so we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, even between you and us, and let us make a covenant with you, that you will do us no harm, just as we have not touched you and have done to you nothing but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the Lord.’ ” Then he made them a feast, and they ate and drank. In the morning they arose early and exchanged oaths; then Isaac sent them away and they departed from him in peace. Now it came about on the same day, that Isaac’s servants came in and told him about the well which they had dug, and said to him, “We have found water.” So he called it Shibah; therefore the name of the city is Beersheba to this day’.
When all this was happening, Esau and Jacob might be watching and wondering, ‘why is our Father not claiming what is his?’ Then Jacob grows up into a person, who is grabber. He grew up in Issacs’s family. So, he had heard about God’s promise to Abraham.
Genesis 15:13-16, ‘God said to Abram, “Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve, and afterward they will come out with many possessions. As for you, you shall go to your fathers in peace; you will be buried at a good old age. Then in the fourth generation they will return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite is not yet complete.”’
Having these promises from God, Jacob grows up to be a grabber, tries to grab the first-born share from his brother, Esau. They have trouble. Jacob’s life is in danger and then he moves on from there, then he meets God at Bethel. God promises to him that He’s going to be with him. Even when he goes to Laban’s place, he is very shrewd in grabbing many things. He plays around with his cattle – his sheep and goats. After 20 years of service to Laban, he is coming back and realizes he’s going to meet Esau and he is afraid.
Genesis 32:24-31, ‘Then Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When he saw that he had not prevailed against him, he touched the socket of his thigh; so the socket of Jacob’s thigh was dislocated while he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” He said, “Your name shall no longer be Jacob, but Israel; for you have striven with God and with men and have prevailed.” Then Jacob asked him and said, “Please tell me your name.” But he said, “Why is it that you ask my name?” And he blessed him there. So Jacob named the place Peniel, for he said, “I have seen God face to face, yet my life has been preserved.” Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.’
Jacob had God’s promise all along but ‘grabbing’ was there all along and then when he comes down to Pharaoh, he says, ‘his days have been so small and evil’.
In New Testament, Ephesians 5:5, ‘For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.’ we see here, covetous man is an idolater. Trying to grab or covet is like an idolatry. God hates it. God says, ‘You should flee from idolatry’.
Hebrews 10:24, ‘and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds. So, let us encourage each other to do these good works, the works of our Father. These are not our works. It will involve things related to how we live, taking care of our family, etc. Let us be led by the Holy Spirit to understand what these good works are and try to do them.
James 4:17, ‘Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.’ We cannot list out the good works but Holy Spirit would lead us to understand what the good deeds are. Just like what we saw in case of Mary, she was led to do the act of pouring out from the alabaster jar. She had that heart of pouring out the best of hers. And Jesus said, wherever the Gospel is preached, this act of Mary would be told. The Gospel is complete, not just when we get saved but when we eventually learn to put out the best that we have and pour it out to God.
Hebrews 11:21, ‘By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, and worshiped, leaning on the top of his staff.’ After Jacob met God, his hip got dislocated, he had been walking around, limping and finally towards the end of his life, he learns to worship God, leaning on the top of his staff, because of his leg situation. Our Worship to God becomes truer when we come to God in our real understanding of our weakness. In Revelation 4:10, 11,’ the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying,“Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
The elders, when worshiping God like this, they mean every word they are saying. They acknowledge all the power belongs to God, knowing their powerlessness. Let us desire to worship God in this manner. The more we submit ourselves, to His will, we will recognize the weakness in us and bring the best of what we have, to our God.
Praise God.
