https://odb.org/2023/12/01/his-heart-for-all
Instead of highlighting (again, sigh…) the racial divisions within the church, which usually often boils down to people just prefering to congregate among their own kind, I should just focus on God’s heart this morning.
God is for all, whether we are Chinese, Malay, Iban, Kadazan, or Indian. God has no preference in race, although He chose the Jews first as a nation to showcase His love and grace. Jesus Christ, after all, came to the earth as a Jew. God’s only son who saved humankind as the second Adam was of Abrahamic descent. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is now also the God of the Gentiles, as it was meant to be.
The question this morning is how are we responding to God’s heart. Are we putting Him aside as we wrestle with our own burdens and issues of life? The human tendency is to settle things on our own, although as believers and children of the Light, we are taught otherwise. Jesus already said before that His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. For He is gentle and humble. See Matthew 11:28-30, meaning to say, if we were to go to Him, He would not give us more stress and grief! Instead, He would de-stress us and give us peace of mind. Will our problems and issues go away? Prayer will help, but it is more likely for us to see and accept that most things are not life and death situations. But if we are so stressed out, it may slowly bring about our early demise!
The other thing is that issues or matters close to God’s heart are things we should focus more on as we travel life’s journey. Jesus Christ is, after all, our Lord and Saviour. If there is anyone we should honour and please, it should be God. Not only our spouse, our children, or our bosses but Christ of all people! It’s a daily transformation, and we are always work-in-progress but progress we must. Fuss over issues close to God’s heart. The poor, the widows, the orphans, and the foreigners. The downtrodden and the oppressed. Pray against spiritual forces deceiving people into unbelief, that we don’t fall prey to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (1 John 2:16). Pray for the softening of the hearts of those we are reaching out to. If possible, and if their hearts are willing, we want them to join us on this narrow path to life eternal.
Cast our burdens on Him for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light. Remember. He is both gentle and humble.
Ronnie's Thoughts 