Focus: Do the Needful!

Text: Jh.21:10

"Bring of the fish which ye have now caught."

God will never demand from you what He has not given you. It is always what He has given you that He requires from you. 

Paul poses a question to us, "For who maketh thee to differ from another? and what hast thou that thou didst not receive? now if thou didst receive it, why dost thou glory, as if thou hadst not received it?" (1Cor.4:7). All you have, God gave you. No one is anything without God. Jesus Christ says to His followers, "For without me ye can do nothing" (Jh.15:5). All that we are and own, we owe to him.

God gave Abraham a son, and He later asked him to sacrifice Isaac. Abraham didn't argue with God. He rather promptly obeyed, and the rest is history.

In Malachi, God says, "BRING ye ALL the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the LORD of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it" (Mal.3:10). 

All God requires from you is simple and total obedience - doing what God demands.

Jesus Christ miraculously helped His disciples to catch a large number of fish after they had toiled all through the night in vain, and now He tells them to bring some of the fish they have caught. This is how the kingdom of God operates. Paul calls it, "Giving and receiving." He says, "No church communicated with me as concerning GIVING AND RECEIVING, but ye only" (Phil.4:15). This is the principle of life, and it abides forever.

Like Mary, let it be said of you that you have done the needful. Luke writes, "But one thing is NEEDFUL: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her" (Lk.10:42). Live your life in alignment with God's will and word, and you will experience pure joy - joy unalloyed. 

With all joy do the needful, and do it willingly and passionately. Bring of the fish you have NOW caught. You'll finally catch fish. Your net is set to catch something huge, but don't fail to return some to the Lord through His servants or His church. From the ones you have already caught, bring some. Bring your tithes and offerings, and sow your seeds. Your net is set for a big catch now. Just do the needful. Shalom!

by Bishop Moses E. Peter