Thursday, 29 August 2013

DON’T BUY YOUR WAY UP

TEXT: MATTHEW 20:20-23
Then the mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favour of him.
 “What is it you want?” he asked.
She said, “Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom.”
 “You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?”
“We can,” they answered.
 Jesus said to them, “You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father.” (Matthew 20: 20-23)
At every point in life, we feel like bypassing a process or requirement so that we may need not to go through the necessity of life for us to achieve our goals. We feel like exempting ourselves from particular requirements or procedures, we want to be great but we don’t want to pay the price of greatness.
John the Baptist wanted to exempt Jesus from being Baptised because he thought it was not necessary, he knew that Jesus did not commit any sin, and he is his superior, but Jesus believed that for you to become who God wants you to become in life, you must fulfil all righteousness and do things the way they are meant to be. He made John to baptise him because he came to this world as a man, and he wanted to lay example for us to follow. Jesus wanted to do all that is required of all human beings to inherit the kingdom of God. He laid the example for us so that we would learn not to bypass any kingdom requirements for us to fulfil purpose. The mother of Zebedee’s sons came to Jesus, kneeling down and asking Jesus for a favour that Jesus should make her children to sit on his left and his right in his kingdom.
The woman was lobbying for her children to seat at the throne of honour, but she wanted the children to bypass the requirements needed for the seats. Because Jesus did not bypass his own requirement to his successful ministry, he refused to accept the favour that the mother of the disciples wanted. Many believers are like the mother of these disciples, they lobby their way up the ladder of success or ministry. If you bypass the requirements needed, the blessing and fulfilment of the office will bypass you.

If you don’t pay the price, if you fail to meet the requirements, if you cut corners to climb the ladder of success, your functionality in that office may be a serious struggle with little or nothing to show for it. There is always an exam before promotion, and if you were not the one that sat for the exam and “you came out in flying colours,” how are you going to defend your result? How effective and efficient are you going to be in your work place, when you are working with a result you do not merit? Definitely failure is inevitable!
“Jesus said to them, you will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my father.” (Matthew 20:23). After having the requirements and experience, you need to wait for God to promote you. Don’t run ahead of God, He will launch you out in His own time. It does not matter if you are at the bottom of the ladder, when it is time; He would bring you to the top of the ladder.

Copyright altarofpraisewithbolatito 2013

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