HANDS THAT ARE TOO FULL

“HANDS THAT ARE TOO FULL”

By Pastor Mark Taylor

Parable of the Great Feast

15 Hearing this, a man sitting at the table with Jesus exclaimed, “What a blessing it will be to attend a banquet[a] in the Kingdom of God!”

16 Jesus replied with this story: “A man prepared a great feast and sent out many invitations. 17 When the banquet was ready, he sent his servant to tell the guests, ‘Come, the banquet is ready.’ 18 But they all began making excuses. One said, ‘I have just bought a field and must inspect it. Please excuse me.’ 19 Another said, ‘I have just bought five pairs of oxen, and I want to try them out. Please excuse me.’ 20 Another said, ‘I now have a wife, so I can’t come.’

21 “The servant returned and told his master what they had said. His master was furious and said, ‘Go quickly into the streets and alleys of the town and invite the poor, the crippled, the blind, and the lame.’ 22 After the servant had done this, he reported, ‘There is still room for more.’ 23 So his master said, ‘Go out into the country lanes and behind the hedges and urge anyone you find to come, so that the house will be full. 24 For none of those I first invited will get even the smallest taste of my banquet.’”

ECCLESIASTES  9: 10

WHATEVER YOUR HAND FINDS TO DO, DO IT WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH AND ABILITY.

Suppose a father wants his son to do something for him .  The son replies: "Father I have something in my hands, when I am finished with what is in my hands I will do what you want me to do."  If the son really cares about His father's needs, He will put down the something's in his hand

 It is hard for God to find someone who does not have His hands full.  Your hands can only hold so much stuff.  Therefore if there are already things in our hands, we cannot take up new things without putting down the other things.

  

A man's strength is limited.  No one has an unlimited supply of mental or physical energy.  A man's emotions are limited.  We cannot continue to use up our emotions on things we cannot change.

If a person uses up all their physical strength, emotions and mental energy for causes that mean nothing, then there is nothing left for God when He is in need of your service to Him and others.

We are all here because God has been good to us.  He has given us health.  He has given us good careers and good spouses to enjoy our ives with.  He has given us an abundance of financial blessings in which to enjoy our lives in comfort, and to be able to relax and enjoy the company of others who are good and decent people.  He has given us the opportunity to escape the drama and chaos of the world.

So our Heavenly Father has also put in us gifts and abilities that other people are still trying to develop, or will never develop.

There will be times when our Heavenly Father asks us to do something for Him within those gifts and abilities He has given us.  Sometimes it may be something as simple as giving a cup of cold water in Jesus's name - some small act of kindness.  Or it may be something that requires a good deal of effort and energy on our part.  Often the request from Him is something that only we can do, and if we do not do it, it will not get done.

So how do we respond?  Do we do like the young man did, because he had too many things in his hands?  Do we tell our Heavenly Father that we will get around to it when we our hands empty?  Or do we lay down those "other things" and pick up the important things our Heavenly Father needs us to do? There will always be "other things".  

If you have ever asked The Lord Jesus to forgive you of your sins, and asked Him to come into your life, you are a child of God.  But you or even more than that.  God does not work on Earth to accomplish His will outside of using His Children.  You or the hands, feet, and mouth of God to your family and friends, and to others God might send into your life.

Sometimes you are like a fireman at the fire station.  The Lord wants you to just sit around at the station until there is an emergency and then He sends you out on a call.  Sometimes He gives you daily assignments to reach out and be the person who encourages others as they go and fight the fires.  Sometimes you are the mechanic who makes sure everything is working properly, so when there is a fire, people can get the help they need.  Sometimes you may be the dispatcher who gets the right information to the people who need to help others.  Regardless, when The Lord needs you, you have to put down those other things that are in your hands to help God accomplish what He wants to do for others.  

Sometimes our opportunity to walk and talk for God will be an individual task.  Other times God will use a group of people of which He wants you to be a part of.  There will be times we can combine our resources, talents , and abilities to make a difference in the lives of others.  This can be done through a church, a club, or a group of concerned people.

God wants to help a lot of people in this world, but He will not do it without people who love Him. He will not do it without you.    We can limit what God wants to do in the lives of our families, our friends, and others if we do not put down the things in our hands and pick up the things that will help our Heavenly Father.

The important thing for us to remember is that God loves us and has chosen us to serve Him while we have good health and good resources.  There will be times God wants us to relax and renew ourselves, and we should not feel guilty about that. Then there is a time to "be about our Father's business".

What is in your hands today?  Will you put those things down long enough to help your Heavenly Father help others.  Each of us will be asked to do different things according to our gifts and abilities.

Remember you are doing it for your Heavenly Father, not for those who deserve it, or for those who do not deserve your time and energy.  Some people will not say thank you and some may not even accept your offer of love or help.  But that is ok.  God appreciates your obedience and sacrifice.  He will both reward you with blessings from Heaven, and use others to be a blessing to you in your time of need.

"What ever your hand  finds to to do, do it with all your might". Ecclesisasites 9:10.

It is good to have an idea in our heart but it would be much better and useful if, instead of just talking about something that we would actually do it.

One good deed is worth far more than 1000 brilliant ideas never done.  We should never simply sit and wait for big opportunities or for a different kind of work to come along. We should each and every day do the things that God puts in our hands.

We have no time in which to live but the present for the past is gone and the future has not yet come.  No one ever served God by doing things tomorrow.  It is what we do today that generates blessings and brings honor to Christ.

Don't give Christ a little halfhearted work done every now and then but when you serve him “do it with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” Deuteronomy 6:5.