“Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptised by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-22
When Judas followed Jesus as one of His disciples, due to the spirit of greed in him, he thought to play some games by gambling with his master’s life. Eventually, he committed suicide, and his space amongst the disciples became empty.
Then the disciples saw the need to find a replacement. They had two men available and prayed that God chose the best person to take his place. “They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, “You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way.” They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.” Acts 1:23-26.
If you study the opening scripture well, you will notice that they choose ‘from the company of men who stayed together with them from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with them as a witness to his resurrection.’
In other words, the two men they nominated have been with them since Judas was with them. They had all been together. But Judas had the privilege of working closely with the master. However, he trifled with that opportunity given to him. Many of us are like this today. We have been chosen to represent God in our respective places of assignment, either at home, work, school, church, or society. But rather than honour God by making the most use of our time to be productive in excellent manners, we waste time doing unnecessary things.
No position or office lasts forever; you’re either promoted or demoted; you either retire or resign. In one way or the other, there’s always a replacement for a position. Unfortunately, Judas didn’t manage that position well. He wasn’t sensitive and attentive to the teachings of Jesus. He wanted to gain the world, but he lost his soul.
God doesn’t waste resources. If you prove to be a waste of resources to the work He has placed on your hand, and you don’t seem to change for the better, He may not struggle with you. All you may notice is that someone else has started that idea He has been asking you to start. You may just go out one day and see a billboard bearing the name of your supposed vision. You may go online one day and see that idea manifesting and blooming in the hands of another man.
And to your utmost surprise, it may be someone you’ve been training or someone looking up to you. They may never have heard the idea from you, but God found them more worthy of the work than you. Just like he found Matthias worthy in place of Judas. He found David more worthy than Saul.
When Elijah went hiding for his life with the thought of being the remaining prophet in the land, God told him to anoint Elisha to replace him and that he had preserved 7000 more prophets who hadn’t bowed to Baal. 1 Kings 19:16,”…and anoint Elisha, son of Shaphat from the town of Abel-meholah to replace you as my prophet; 18, Yet I will preserve 7,000 others in Israel who have never bowed down to Baal or kissed him!”
God can never be stranded. If you think you’re the best chorister in the church, and hence you start acting with pride, God can raise stones (people of no relevance) to take your place.
So why won’t you rise and start that business? Why won’t you rise and start that ministry? If God has given you the idea, He is ready to foot it. So why bother about how it will grow or bloom?
Start today; tomorrow might be the day another will take your place. May God help us all in Jesus’ name.
Prayer
1. Pray that the Lord will ha e mercy on you for delaying the work He has entrusted you to.
2. Ask for the grace to start working on those instructions without giving up.
3. Pray that the Lord will help the body of Christ to revisit the great commission of evangelism.
This is our message for today, and we hope you were blessed. We’d also love to hear from you; please comment below.
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Have a blessed day!
2 Comments
You are not the only one God is relying on to do his work. Don’t joke with God’s business.
Dear Amina,
You are absolutely right. God has many children He can send to do His work if we fail to be responsible. May God help us to act accordingly.