Open Heavens Devotion April 25th 2016

Open Heavens 25 April 2016: Monday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye

Topic: Belated Offering?

Memorise: Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.– Luke 24:1

Read: Luke 24:1-8 (KJV)

1 Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them.

2 And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.

3 And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus.

4 And it came to pass, as they were much perplexed thereabout, behold, two men stood by them in shining garments:

5 And as they were afraid, and bowed down their faces to the earth, they said unto them, Why seek ye the living among the dead?

6 He is not here, but is risen: remember how he spake unto you when he was yet in Galilee,

7 Saying, The Son of man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.

8 And they remembered his words,

Bible in One Year: 1 Kings 2:13-3:28, Proverbs 15:11-24

MESSAGE:

Some offerings are acceptable while some are not; some offerings are given at the right time while some are belatedly offered. On the morning of the resurrection, some people brought spices to the sepulchre of Jesus, meanwhile, a few days to His crucifixion, a woman anointed Jesus Christ’s feet with expensive ointment. This woman’s kind gesture was just in time.

“10 When Jesus understood it, he said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. 11 For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. 12 For in that she hath poured this ointment on my body, she did it for my burial.” - Matthew 26:10-12

Incidentally, when Jesus Christ died, no one was there to perform the customary anointing before burial for Him. It was in lieu of this that certain disciples came to the resurrection morning that they may anoint Jesus in arrears. However, He had resurrected!

Beloved, there are many lessons to be learnt from this resurrection story; whenever the Holy Spirit asks you to do something, no matter how illogical it may sound, do it immediately. The reason is that if you do it later, it will be a belated offering or service. The disciples who came to anoint Jesus went back with their perfume because the Master was no longer in the grave. James, an apostle of Jesus Christ wrote:

“14 What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? can faith save him? 15 If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food, 16 And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit?” - James 2:14-16

If I may answer the apostle; there can be no profit whatsoever. There could, however, be a loss of that person in need, and it may be a physical or spiritual loss as the fellow may die of hunger or backslide. In this same vein, whenever the Holy Spirit asks you to do something and doing that thing attracts criticisms from men, be undeterred, go ahead and do exactly as you were told. Your critics will soon realise that they were wrong to have criticised you. May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us, and may we continue to obey Him as we journey from the world to our eternal home above.

Action Point: Listen to the Holy Spirit and do all that He asks you to do immediately.