“He was oppressed and treated harshly, yet he never said a word. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter. And as a sheep is silent before the shearers, he did not open his mouth.” (Isaiah 53:7 NLT)
Aren’t you blessed? The answer is “Yes, in many ways!” Add this to your endless recognition of your blessings. Yesterday’s meditation was short, and it was not even Monday. So getting today’s “Short Monday” meditation, should really be viewed as a bonus blessing. Read on! It won’t take long!
Many times we like to play the martyr, especially if you are one of the faithful few. Why? Well, we do it to get attention. We do it so that folks will feel sorry for us or sympathize with our feelings. We assume the role of a martyr to justify not doing something or refusing to put one more thing on our church service plates. Perhaps we express the words of a martyr in the hopes of somebody, anybody, will move from being a spectator to a participator in the kingdom building work. I just have one thing to say about not playing the martyr. And just maybe, we play the martyr because we have seemed to be maxed out in carrying a heavy load, a load that is pertinent to the perpetuation of the kingdom of God. Sometimes we need a spiritual feeding to strengthen our being when the temptation to play the martyr messes with us. I’ll give you a morning feeding, and you meditate on it throughout today. It’s food that we all need when we are challenged by a martyrdom attitude.
“Eat” up! Jesus did not play the martyr. Jesus did not play the martyr. (Note: I repeated the sentence twice on purpose.) Jesus played the Savior like only He could do. He fulfilled the role assigned by God and in line with His purpose for doing the work of solving man’s un-reconciled position with God, all by Himself. Jesus took on the work of atonement and He did not play the martyr. Look to Jesus my friend! Have a good start to the workweek! I hope I equipped you with a few words. Be blessed!
“Christ redeemed us from that self-defeating, cursed life by absorbing it completely into himself. Do you remember the Scripture that says, “Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree”? That is what happened when Jesus was nailed to the cross: He became a curse, and at the same time dissolved the curse. And now, because of that, the air is cleared. and we can see that Abraham’s blessing is present and available for non-Jews, too. We are all able to receive God’s life, his Spirit, in and with us by believing—just the way Abraham received it.” (Galatians 3:13-14 The Message Bible)
Still committed to the climb,
Mark L. King