You can lead a horse to water, just not on the Sabbath.
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Since Biblical times people have been defending Gods statutes in the name of religion. Isn’t it time we asked what God says about people. The people He died for, the people that are just one degree of separation from us “Christians”. The broken and hurting masses who we sometimes dismiss with a sweep of the hand and generalizations. There is a danger we face as Christians. It is the danger of forgetting who we are.
We can easily fall into the temptation to clean up our act on Sunday. Say all the right words and smile through our pain for two hours to go back to life, but every false pretense, every fake smile, every hidden sin is a brick in the wall of separation we build between us and the world. What the world needs to see is authentic Christianity.
Jesus was not fond of wall builders. He went so far as to call them white washed tombs, dead on the inside. In the book of Luke the rulers of the synagogue took offense as Jesus healed a woman who was crippled for 18 years, because it was the Sabbath. The time was not right for her to be healed, they argued. Don’t you follow the rules! It truly was the day of rest, but the way Jesus responds tells us what He thinks about our walls. I find interesting.
Luke 13:15 The Lord answered him, “You hypocrites! Doesn’t each of you on the Sabbath untie your ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? 16 Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?” 17 When he said this, all his opponents were humiliated, but the people were delighted with all the wonderful things he was doing.
These men have forgotten about people, in their rule-keeping game. Men who would not let their animal go thirsty have forgotten how to have compassion on the sick, lost and dying. Humility is the cure, humility is remembering that we are all a little bit lost and every one of us is dying. The only thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world, is the well, from which we drink. The well of life, Jesus Christ.
The difficulty is not in the leading the horse to water, the hard part is to make him thirsty. Look around and you will see that this world makes you thirsty. Thirsty for something to quench the questions in your soul. There are many hockers out there shouting about how they can quench your thirst, but it is only for moments. We have all come to a place in our walk where we were left unsatisfied. Jesus is the only one to offer water; that if you drink of it you will never thirst again.
As Christians we are comissioned to find those that are thirsty, those that are not satisfied with the bitter water the world keeps giving them, and show them the fountain of life. We are a people made to say, the redeemer of you soul stands waiting for you, ready to lead you to waters that will quench the longing of your soul. He stands ready to remove the tethers that bind you to sin and death. He is saying come and drink. In a world that is looking for answers from Gods people let us be circumspectful and never forget that the world is full of the people Jesus came to die for. That is the message that should be ringing out in these day we live in.
You and I will never be ready enough, cleaned up enough, or righteous enough to live a life that follows all of the rules. That was the point. The law was given to show that there was no way to please God through keeping the law. That I why He offered a better way than the law. He offered Jesus. God paid your way, all you have to do is drink. The sign that you ready for the water Jesus is offering is that you are thirsty. That is the only prerequsit for living a God life. Thirst for something better.
Blessed are they that hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6
