Topic: He healed his enemy as an example!
Bible Reading: 2 Kings 1-3; Luke 22:31-53.
Memory Verse: “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.“ Luke 22:51 (KJV)
Imagine a captain and his soldiers meant to kill you came to your house and one of your security guards shot at one of them that he fell. Will you look at the soldier that fell or instruct your guards to decimate the captain and his soldiers so that you may avoid their death plan?
Well Jesus faced a similar situation and instead of asking His disciples to kill and maim the team that came to arrest Him, He picked up the ear of one of His enemies that was cut off by one of His disciples and healed him! (Luke 22:47-51). The Bible records the healing in Luke 22:51 (KJV), “And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.” By this action, Jesus put to practice what the Bible enjoins us to do in Proverbs 25:21-22 (KJV), “If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: [22] For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee.” Now what do you do to your adversaries? Do you follow the principle of love as given to us by our Lord Jesus in Matthew 5:44 (KJV), “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;” or do you focus on destroying them? It is high time you understood the direction of Christianity as taught by our Lord which is to show love to everyone irrespective of their dispositions to you (1 Corinthians 13:1-4).
If you really want to win souls for Christ and reflect the virtues of our Lord and Saviour, you will need to show love. It is a way of living a godly life. It is difficult and can only be truly lived if you have Holy Ghost in you and you follow His leading.
A few years ago, one of my subordinates annoyed me as he appeared to be bent on bringing fresh investors to one of our companies with a view to making them majority shareholders apparently so that he may have control of the company. Over time his management of the company led to erosion of significant shareholders value and he had to leave. But by the time he left, the damage had been done and we eventually lost the company as the Central Bank of Nigeria withdrew its license. Consequently, every time I remembered him, some level of anger welled up in my heart. I realized, my prayer life was affected and so I changed my strategy such that I started praying for him and wishing him well. Over time the burden left me and I was able to remember him without any anger any more. So in the process of praying for my adversary, I relieved myself of a big hurt and also created a better channel for my prayer. So it’s a great thing to really love your enemies as you end up being a better person. It helps even your health as a person.
Action point:
Think of those who have hurt you and pray for them.
Bro. Biodun Oyapero