Professional Speaking :: Jesus The Economist

On April 14th, 2012, the Guest voices section in The Washington Post had an article entitled “A Jesus economy?” and it highlighted how both sides of the national legislators use the Bible to justify their vantage points.

But would we be able to consider Jesus to be an economist? Yes, Jesus used economic terms to teach Godly truths and virtues. The parable where Jesus tells that the worker who worked for the last one hour received the same wages as the one who had worked the whole day has been in contention amongst many, because they fail to see that the rewards earned were accordingly to the contract and are based on God’s grace and goodness and not necessarily on the quantity or quality of works (Matthew 20:1-16). When Jesus counsels, that one must render under Caesar (the ruler of his times) what was Caesar’s and unto God what is God’s (Mark 12:17), he was teaching that while honoring the law of the land, one must not fail to honor the laws of God and vice-versa. When Jesus saw the poor widow who cast her two mites into the treasury, he took time to recognize and praise her, for she gave out of her penury and she gave all her living and not as others do out of their abundance (Luke 21:1-4).

Points to ponder:
When it comes to Jesus The Economist, he expects us to give all of our life to him and he recognizes those that do. Have you given your life to Jesus? and if you have, have you given your ALL (all the living you have) to Jesus?

Luke 21:1-4 (KJV)
¹ And he looked up, and saw the rich men casting their gifts into the treasury.
² And he saw also a certain poor widow casting in thither two mites.
³ And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all:
⁴ For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.

 

God’s property

Pastor Robin Paul at the Austin Christian Fellowship of India (ACFI) spoke on the blessings of a believer and expressed that one of the blessings, a believer has is that Believers are inherited by God and they inherit what is God’s, expanding on the passage from Ephesians 1:11-18. In other words, Whatever God owns, belongs to us as well as an inheritance.

From this text, there are two hidden treasures that come to surface.
First, God is love (1 John 4:8) and love gives (John 3:16)  and secondly, Whatever God owns, we own and whatever we own, God owns.

But what is really important is not what we are heirs to, but our state of inheritance by God.
If all that we own, God owns as well since we inherit each other, The real matter of fact is not what belongs to us, but what belongs to God.
Does ALL that we own, belong to God or are there aspects and elements of what we possess (including our life) that do not belong to God. If we love God, shouldn’t it be expressed by giving our ALL to God, just as He expressed it for us? When we sing the song, All to Jesus, I surrender, do we truly and truthfully mean it or are we merely lying?
In simple terms, Are we God’s property? (one that he is proud of owning!)

Ephesians 1:11-18 (KJV)
¹¹ In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:
¹² That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.
¹³ In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
¹⁴ Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
¹⁵ Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints,
¹⁶ Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers;
¹⁷ That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
¹⁸ The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,