Once upon a time there lived a young farmer. His name was Poh Ver Tee. He was so poor that all his clothes were worn out. They were in fact torn and tattered. There were holes everywhere on every piece of clothing he owned. He longed for something new and without holes.
So one day Poh Ver Tee set out to town. He took some vegetables from his farm. He wanted to give them in exchange for some nice warm clothes.
After a long walk through the forest Poh Ver Tee reached the town. There he saw many young men and women wearing torn and ripped jeans. He saw young ladies wearing blouses which had large holes on their shoulders and back. He even saw ladies wearing such short pants that their pockets were hanging out.
Poh Ver Tee was shocked. He thought to himself, " I am in a better off position than them. These town folks seem to be poorer than me. I am not going to waste my precious vegetables in exchange for their torn clothes." Feeling richer than them, Poh Ver Tee returned to his village with glee.
Sadly, Poh Ver Tee lived and died without knowing how it feels to wear clothes without holes. He died in utter poverty.
Friends, in the above story, Poh Ver Tee represents all the unbelievers out there. The people of the town represent us believers in Christ Jesus. Sadly they are dying daily in spiritual poverty, without knowing Christ Jesus. Why? It is because of us and the way we live.
We have what they do not have. We have the Holy Spirit residing in us. We have Jesus. How are we going to give them what they do not have, how are we going to lead them to Christ Jesus if our lives are no different from theirs?
How are we to be different? We must be different in the way we speak, in our relationships with one another, in our attire, in our actions etc.
The Holy Spirit, through the apostle Peter, tells us in 1 Peter 2:1 NASB:-
Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,...
In Romans 13:13 NIV, the Holy Spirit tells us through Paul the apostle,
Because we belong to the day (to Christ Jesus), we must live decent lives for all to see. Don't participate in the darkness of wild parties and drunkenness, or in sexual promiscuity and immoral living, or in quarreling and jealousy.
He also tells us in 1 Peter 2:12 NASB:-
Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.
We have the most powerful Helper given to us by Father God through the intercession of Jesus Himself. He is the The Holy Spirit. He enables us to live the way Jesus wants us to live. Instead of asking the Holy Spirit to help us live as ambassadors of Christ Jesus, we are living compromised lives. We are living just like or even worse than the unbelievers.
Sadly many souls are being lost because they don't know Jesus; because we Christians are not living as how God's Word says we must live.
Oh, if only each one of us would die to ourselves daily and be the light of Christ and be the salt that we are called to be, how many million souls we would save from eternal hell fire!
Our lives speak a million words. Therefore friends, let us come out of our comfort zones and die to ourselves daily. Let us make up our minds today to seek the help of the Holy Spirit to live spirit filled lives. Let us consciously be different from all unbelievers. Let us never compromise with the world but by being Christlike, lead the lost to Christ Jesus.
The world is watching us Christians. Therefore let us put on Christ and show them Who Christ Jesus is.
Mary Augustine
28/08/2018
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