DO YOU HAVE SELF-INITIATIVE?

Hello. Welcome. We are all in this thing called life together. Let’s work together, worship together, help one another, defend one another, and so fulfill Christ’s greatest commands – LOVE.

• Reaching down to pick up a piece of trash to place it in the trash can
• Washing your hands
• Opening the door for someone
• Saying “Yes” when you have the means and opportunity
• Doing your own work with fervor and Godly pride no matter who’s watching
• Learning what you do not know as fast as possible
• Standing for what is right

These are all examples of SELF-INITIATIVE – Doing what needs to be done without having to be told to do it.

Take a look at Andrew, an apostle and Simon Peter’s brother. In John 6 Jesus was helping all who came to Him. He went up on a mountain, sat down, and saw a multitude of people coming toward Him. Jesus then asked one of His disciples (Philip), “Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?” even though He already knew what He would do. Philip gave him the answer that most of us would have given; “Two hundred denarii worth of bread is not sufficient for them that every one of them may have a little.” We would have probably said, “Jesus! Are you kidding! There’s not enough money in the bank to feed this many people!” Then Andrew shows self-initiative. Andrew said to Jesus, “There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?” Boy, did Andrew, Philip, and everyone else, including you and me, find out just what Jesus, the Son of God can do with whatever we have when we show self-initiative.

Look at Pricilla and Aquila’s self-initiative when they heard a very eloquent preacher named Apollos preach about Jesus, except he only knew about the baptism of John. They showed self-initiative when they took Apollos aside and explained the way of God more accurately. We find that Apollos “greatly helped those who had believed through grace” and he “vigorously refuted” those who denied that Jesus was the Christ. You can read about this in Acts 18:24-28.

What about Joseph of Arimathea’s and Nicodemus’ self-initiative when they alone came to take Jesus’ body down from the cross to prepare it and bury it in that new borrowed tomb. Jesus didn’t need that tomb for long, only until Sunday morning. This is a beautiful reading in John 19:38-42.  It is very difficult for me to read this passage without crying. I would like to think that if I would have lived in that day, that there would have been a third person; me.

You can probably think of many more examples of self-initiative from the Bible. Do you have self-initiative? If not, get to it today. When you see something that needs to be done, ask about it. It could be someone else’s job. If so, maybe they need some help. We depend on each other. We need each other. MB