Special Days: Springtime - Isaiah 5:1-7; Psalm 126; James 3:13-18; Luke 12:23-31
God calls us to be a holy people.
“The Song of the Vineyard” (Isaiah 5:1-7) is a call to holiness. God’s people are to be “the garden of His delight” (Isaiah 5:7). We are to live a “holy” life (Isaiah 4:3).
The world speaks of God’s people with contempt - ‘the holy people who need to learn to live in the real world’.
When God calls His people ‘holy’, He speaks in a very different way.
He speaks with affection. He looks upon us with love. We are special to Him. We are precious in His eyes.
God loves us and He calls us to be holy. We are to live as those who have been set apart for God.
We are not to live for this world only. There is something else, something greater than this so-called ‘real world’.
There is a world that is unseen and eternal, heavenly and glorious. This is our higher calling, our call to holiness.
Let us ‘look to the things that are unseen and eternal’. Let us ‘press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’ (2 Corinthians 4:18; Philippians 3:14).
God calls us to be a joyful people.
‘The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy’ (Psalm 126:3). We rejoice in our Saviour who ‘died for our sins’ and ‘was raised on the third day’ (1 Corinthians 15:3-4).
Holiness and joy belong together. We will not find true happiness unless we seek real holiness. We find real holiness and true happiness when we build our life upon our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Psalm 125:1 tells us that ‘Those who trust in the Lord… cannot be moved…’
When we put our trust in the Lord, we are like the ‘wise man who built his house on the rock’. His house ‘did not fall because it had its foundation on the rock’. When we do not put our trust in the Lord, we are like the’ foolish man who built his house on sand’. His house ‘fell with a great crash’ (Matthew 7:24-27).
‘Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labour in vain’ (Psalm 127:1). ‘Jesus Christ’ is the ‘sure Foundation’ upon which our faith is built. He is ‘the solid Rock’, our ‘mighty Rock of spiritual refreshment’ (1 Corinthians 3:11; 10:3-4).
In Christ alone, we find true happiness and real holiness.
God calls us to be a wise people.
Use your words with wisdom - ‘the wisdom that comes from heaven’(James 3:17-18). So much harm can be done by a hurtful word. So much good can be done by a word of witness. An evil ‘fire’(James 3:5) can be turned into a godly fire: ‘It only takes a spark to get a fire going, and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love, once you’ve experienced it. You spread His love to everyone. You want to pass it on’.
Don’t fight to get your own way.
Be wise - ask God to show you His way (James 4:2).
Be wise - be careful how you speak: ‘Do not slander one another…Who are you to judge your neighbour?’(James 4:11-12).
May God deliver us from hypocrisy - ‘out of the same mouth come praise and cursing’(James 3:10).
May He give us ‘more grace’- to be ‘humble’ and not ‘proud’, submitting to God and resisting the devil (James 4:6-7).
God calls us to seek His Kingdom.
‘Seek His Kingdom… it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the Kingdom’(Luke 12:31-32).
- Seeking God’s Kingdom, we will live by faith and not by fear.
‘Do not fear…’(Luke 12:4): ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’(Romans 8:31).
- Seeking God’s Kingdom, we will be unashamed of our Saviour.
Acknowledge Christ or deny Him (Luke 12:8-9): Let your choice be clear - ‘Christ means everything to me’(Philippians 1:21).
Do you want to confess Christ? - Here’s a great promise for you: ‘the Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say’(Luke 12:12).
- Seeking God’s Kingdom, we will lay up our treasures in heaven (Matthew 6:20).
In our generation, there is a ‘gold rush’. Many are preoccupied with ‘having a lot of material possessions’(Luke 12:15). What does God say about this? - ‘Fool!’(Luke 12:20).
We hear it said, ‘He’s too heavenly-minded to be any earthly good’. You can be ‘too earthly-minded to be any heavenly good’!
It is better to be ‘spiritually minded’ than ‘carnally minded’(Romans 8:6).
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The Bible Readings are taken from the Revised Common Lectionary – Year C.
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