A Brief Biblical Look at Miracles

It's interesting that recently, I've been hit a few times with questions relevant to signs and wonders (miracles). Thus it seems the church is becoming more increasingly aware of and desiring to know the biblical teaching on miraculous gifts. So I thought I'd post a brief on it... And maybe I'll follow up with some more research if the questions keep coming.

Introduction

Miracles may be defined as “supernatural manifestations of divine power in the external world, in themselves special revelations of the presence and power of God” (Unger, 1988:872). Other biblical terms for miracles include: “signs”, “wonders” and “powers”. The act of creation is undoubtedly the first historical account of God's great miraculous acts. But this study explores God's miraculous acts through human agents. Whenever God used human agents to perform miracles, His purpose was twofold: to authenticate the message, and the messenger. “God's prophets were accredited by “signs and wonders” (cf. Deut. 13:1-3) with the sole purpose of validating the messenger and the message-that both were truly from God” (Kaiser, 1990:325). It is also important to note that “miracles did not happen at random throughout Scripture but occurred in three major periods: in the days of Moses and Joshua, Elijah and Elisha, and Christ and the apostles. There were select miracles outside that scope of time, but not many” (Enns, 1989:271).

1. Miracles during the time of Moses and Joshua

God had promised Abraham that his descendants would be foreigners for 400 years before they could occupy the Promised Land (Genesis 15). After the 400 years, God appeared to Moses as his chosen instrument to deliver the people from Egypt. God did not just send Moses with His word, but with “wonders” (miracles) as well (Exodus 3:19, 20) to authenticate both Moses as the messenger and his message as authoritative from God (cf. 4:5). Joshua would later succeed Moses and such miraculous activity as the tumbling of the walls of Jericho (Joshua 6) and the sun standing still (Joshua 10:12-14) characterized his leadership.

2. Miracles during the time of Elijah and Elisha

In the idolatrous reign of King Ahab, God used miraculous signs to distinguish Him from powerless pagan idols such as Baal. An example is when Elijah challenged the prophets of Baal to offer sacrifices to their god, and Elijah would do likewise to the God of Israel. Only the God of Israel responded by consuming the sacrifice by fire (1 Kings 18:20-40). “The interest in 'miracles' here must be compared with their special occurrence at other times of national crisis such as the period of the Exodus and, for the church, the period of Christ's birth, death and resurrection and the subsequent birth of the church” (Wiseman, 1993:163). Elijah was taken up into heaven in chariots of fire but left behind his ministry mantle to Elisha (2 Kings 2:11-13).

3. Miracles during the time of Christ and the Apostles

When the time came to fulfill the prophecy about the Messiah's eventual coming, miraculous signs such as His virgin birth followed (Matthew 1:18). And during His earthly ministry, He proved that He is the Son of God with the power to forgive sin through the miracles He performed (e.g. Mark 2:10, 11). “The healing of the paralytic [in Mark 2] was more than a display of mercy to a wretched man. The announcement and presentation of radical healing to a man in his entire person was a sign of the Kingdom of God drawn near.” (Lane, 1974:99). And when He rose from the death on the third day after His crucifixion (another great miraculous display), He ascended into heaven. Leaving behind His apostles, He empowered them with miraculous signs that accompanied the preaching of the Gospel in order to establish the Church (Acts 1:8; cf. Hebrews 2:3, 4).

Miracles today

Miracles themselves do not necessarily lead to repentance. In all three cases above, not all who witnessed them responded to God in saving faith. In the time of Moses, despite the outstanding miraculous evidence, Pharaoh continued to harden his heart. In the time of Elijah, King Ahab and the nation as a whole still did not turn back to God. And in the time of Christ, the Jews, to whom He was sent, crucified Him and later persecuted the Church. Further, miracles to such a magnitude ceased immediately after these three eras.

So should we not expect miracles today? Well, in His providence God continues to influence the day to day affairs of man as He pleases. But miraculous signs to such a degree as in the three periods above, and the use of human agents to display them, is not to be expected today. “The necessity for miracles no longer exists... The promise of miraculous power... was completely fulfilled in the early period of the church, when such power was needed for the establishment of Christianity” (Unger, 1988:875). “With the completion of the canon of Scripture the need for miracles as a validating sign disappeared; the authority of the Word of God was sufficient to validate the messenger's word.” (Enns, 1989:272).

Miracles in the future

Concerning miracles in the future, great signs and wonders will characterize the end of time when the Lord returns. An example is in the resurrection of the saints into glorified bodies (1 Corinthians 15), and the creation of a new heaven and earth (Revelation 21:1-5). And in using human agents once again, during the Great Tribulation period, two witnesses from God will boast miraculous power (Revelation 11). But interesting to note is that eschatologically, Christ warned that “false christs and false prophets will arise” and their ministries will be characterized by performance of “great signs and wonders” (Matthew 24:24). “'Miraculous' activity is, in the Bible, by no means always the work of God (cf. Dt. 13:1-3...). In such a situation the elect need to be forewarned... if they are not to be led astray...” (France, 1985:342). If miraculous signs were to continue to characterize God’s messengers after the time of Christ and the apostles, then surely Christ would have used another distinction to identify false prophets in future.

Conclusion

Today, the only authority from God validating His message and His messenger is His Word as revealed in the Bible accompanied by its proper interpretation and practice thereof. If any miraculous signs are to be anticipated, then it should be in Christ’s Second Coming as is consistent with His Word. This however, does not limit God in His providence, to affect the affairs of mankind in a supernatural way as He may please today.

Bibliography

·         Enns, P. P. 1989. The Moody Handbook of Theology. Chicago: Moody Press

·         France, R. T. 1985. Matthew. (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press)

·         Kaiser, W. C. 1990. Exodus. (In_Gaebelein, F. E., ed. The Expositor's Bible Commentary. Vol. 2. Michigan: Zondervan Publishing House)

·         Lane, W. L. 1974. Mark. (In_Bruce, F. F., ed., New International Commentary on the New Testament (NICNT). Michigan: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company)

·         Unger, M. F. 1988. The New Unger's Bible Dictionary. Chicago: Moody Bible Institute

·         Wiseman, D. J. 1993. 1 & 2 Kings. (In_Wiseman, D. J., ed., Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries. Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press

Even the kids are persevering...

When ministering to kids, they can easily get distracted sometimes that one might be tempted to think they are not teachable. When conducting small groups, one of the kids in my group often subconsciously turns his back to me, or looks up and around during the interaction, not necessarily being rude, but just succumbing to distractions around him. And when we had ‘Burger Bash’ a couple of months ago, I conducted my small group outside, thus causing even more distractions.

Behind him was someone flipping burgers, and in front of him was an A4-size poster at the church door advertising the ‘Burger Bash’. This posed quite a challenge because whenever he was distracted by the one preparing the burgers, I would have him turn back to face me, only for him to be distracted by the poster. He even asked, with his mouth already watering, if the burger he would buy would be as large as the one covering the entire A4-size poster.

He was sandwiched between two distractions he couldn’t overcome. If he turned away from one, another was waiting to face him in the opposite direction. So it is easy for one charged with teaching or raising such little ones to resign to the idea that maybe these kids are too preoccupied to be teachable.

But this is not so. Come the next week and we were interacting within the small groups again. Their curiosity about heaven led them to ask several questions. You’d expect that as is natural with kids, their longing for and excitement about heaven are the great blessings in store. When speaking about his itinerary when he finally gets to heaven, one of them expressed the joy of being able to play soccer eternally without ever getting tired.

But the kid who had been distracted the previous week had a different response. He had just one desire on his list. He said that the reason he longed for heaven so much is that there will be no more sin! I was tempted to think that this may have been a fluke of an answer. But when I asked him to pray at the end of the small group session, he reiterated the same thing and even thanked God that there would be no more sin in heaven. Such a conviction is undoubtedly rare, even among confessing adults.

Of all the joys and pleasures he could have focused on, he narrowed down to the eternal absence of sin. It is noteworthy that a kid who could barely sit still and focus for two minutes when distracted by his surroundings, was conscious of his own sin and more than anything longed for an eternity without it. Indeed even the kids are persevering.

But should this response from such a young one come as a surprise? In Deuteronomy 6:7 when Moses was preaching to the nation of Israel about God’s commandments, he turned to the parents and instructed them, “You shall teach [God’s commands] diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.” Moses was simply stressing that, “Always be by your kids teaching them about God, because they too need to persevere to the end!”

Doesn’t it naturally follow that if God commands parents to teach their kids about Him that by His Spirit He is able to illuminate His word in them? Why else would He ask this of parents? Kids may be distracted all around by various worldly enticements, but as long as they are taught about God and His salvation through Christ, they will always look forward to one day being in the place where there is no more sin, even though at present their mouths seem to be watering at the unrealistic idea of buying an A4-size burger for just R15.

With God’s word hidden in their little hearts, they are bound to persevere!

What is the final chapter in your story? [edited]

One of my seminary professors once made a thought-provoking statement; that if the book of 2 Timothy was to be written today, no Christian publisher would dare send it to print as an example of success in ministry. This is because it is a letter filled with very painful experiences by the Apostle Paul in the final chapter of his life and close of his ministry. Writing to his spiritual son, Timothy, Paul was very frank that “in the last days difficult times will come” (2 Tim 3:1). He reminded Timothy of numerous persecutions he underwent at the various places he preached the Gospel, but still urged the young man to follow in his footsteps despite the perils that lay ahead (3:10, 11).

This was Paul’s last known letter, and at the time of writing, he was in his second and last Roman imprisonment (1:16; 2:9) having been arrested for preaching the Gospel. With no hope of release, he made reference to his impending execution (4:1). Further, close ministry associates had deserted him in his last days. He lamented that, “All who are in Asia turned away from me” (1:15), “Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me” (4:10), and “at my first defense no one supported me, but all deserted me” (4:16). Such an outcome would have been unexpected considering Paul was arguably the spiritual father of believers in that entire region.

In his last days he was also impoverished. He urged Timothy to hurry to visit him before winter (4:21) because among other things he expected him to bring along the coat he had left in Troas (4:13) that he may keep warm during winter. He undoubtedly could not afford even a secondhand piece of clothing at the time. And it is because of such predicaments that Timothy himself, to whom Paul sought to hand over his ministry mantle, was tempted to be ashamed of the Gospel. Hence Paul had to exhort him saying, “Do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner” (1:8).

It is ironic that during the last days of the ministry of such a great apostle, he was deserted by all and in significant need. This is a period we would expect him to have an unrivaled following and numerous accolades from years of tireless service to Christ. But his biography contrasted that despite sacrificing your life to know and serve the Lord, you will be abandoned by virtually all those close to you, will be persecuted and imprisoned for your faith, will succumb to poverty and suffer need, and that your Christian life will eventually wind up with your execution because of the Gospel you believe and preach.

And that was the story of Paul. When he weighed every form of earthly gain against knowing and pursuing Christ, he considered the former to be worthless. He had earlier recounted to the Philippian church, a church he identified as one of those that suffered “deep poverty” (2 Cor 8:2), that:

“Whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own… but that which is through faith in Christ.” (Phil 3:7-9)

For Paul, the value of life was no longer about personal gain but rather forgoing it for the sake of knowing Christ, and now even more that he was about to lose his life for Him. In his own confession, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil 1:21). Hence God Himself published the material in 2 Timothy, and has maintained its circulation for 2000 years that we may continue to read and learn from it.

But the life story of Paul is not to be confused as the testimony of a man who deserves Christianity’s lifetime achievement award, nor is it advocating a vow of poverty for Christians, for it is God Himself who blesses materially. Rather, the life of Paul is more of a testimony about God Himself. It is the testimony that outside of knowing God and having a relationship with Him through the work of His Son Jesus Christ when He died on the cross for our sins, there is no real value in life and its pursuits, especially considering the eternal implications.

The eternal implications are such that, just as the Lord maintained a sound record of Paul’s life, He is equally maintaining written records of our lives in books that He will use as the basis for eternal judgment upon unrepentant sinners. In Revelation, the Apostle John confirmed that:

“I saw a great white throne and Him who sat upon it… And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened… and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds (Rev 20:11-12).

If such a book was published concerning your life today, how would the final chapter read? Would it conclude with the account of an unrepentant life filled with pursuit of personal gain at the expense of knowing and following Christ; or like Paul, a truly repentant life of faith that has found value in Christ, the only source of true gain? Depending on which ending you ascribe to, eternity will either be spent in a new perfect beginning with the Lord, or in punishment for sin in the lake of fire (Rev 20:13-21:8).

End of My Story

“Thus says the Lord”, to me was empty theory

“To live for myself is gain”, was my philosophy

Entangled in sin, my life sold to spiritual slavery

So eternity in hell, with the wicked I would bury

But while I was yet a sinner, Christ rewrote my story

When God became man, to hang on a cross at Calvary

For my sin He paid in full, in Him I found victory

Christ not a tale, but Author of redemptive history

His image in me restored, His blood the refinery

A new nature in Christ, revealing His master pottery

For me “to live is Christ”, I now change my theology

Revealed in His word, so you don’t need a day in seminary

One day the saints, to heaven He will carry

His bride to be, the Church He will marry

Blessed is he, who will share in His glory

I now look forward, to the end of my story

Do not be fooled, because Christ seems to tarry

You may be counting years, but He resides in eternity

Soon He returns to judge, and head the grand jury

Will He award you eternal life, or death in His fury?

The Unquestionable Sovereignty of God

The sovereignty of God refers to God’s exercise of power over His creation (GRUDEM, 1994:217). God did not only create the universe; in His providence, He is directly and continuously involved in its existence and maintenance, and also governs it in such a way that every occurrence in history is directed towards fulfilling His intended purposes. Nothing is out of His control; neither does anything happen by chance. Truly “the LORD has established His throne in the heavens, and His sovereignty rules over all” (Psalm 103:19). In the Old Testament God mainly deals with the nation of Israel, His chosen people. His sovereignty is experienced in delivering them from Egypt, and eventual occupation of the Promised Land. But His sovereignty is not limited to a specific locale or people group, and is better viewed through His dealings with the nations of the world as well. Several passages support this: Job 12:23, “He makes the nations great, then destroys them; He enlarges the nations, then leads them away.” Psalm 22:28, “For the kingdom is the LORD'S and He rules over the nations.” “The God of Israel is not the God of a single nation. The power of His word is not confined within the borders of Israel; His word effects His will at any time or place it is addressed. He orders the history of nations.” (CRAIGIE, 1976:440). Below is an example of how God displayed His sovereignty at a time when Babylon, under its mighty king Nebuchadnezzar, was the global superpower and seemingly sovereign of all nations. 

Because of Israel's history of rebellion against God, He sent them a series of prophets to warn them of impending judgment. The Israeli kingdom had long been split into two after Solomon died in 970 BC. The northern kingdom, Israel, with its capital in Samaria, was ultimately judged by God when they were taken into Assyrian captivity in 722 BC. The southern kingdom, Judah, with its capital in Jerusalem, would later be taken into captivity in three rounds of deportation under Babylon, the kingdom that eventually took over as world super power from Assyria early in the seventh century BC. Daniel was one of the deportees from Judah taken in the first round of Babylonian captivity under Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC. After the second (597 BC) and third (586 BC) rounds of captivity that led to the destruction and of the temple and city of Jerusalem, the inevitable question arose: “Who, indeed, is sovereign – Nebuchadnezzar… or the God of Israel who had either allowed [the judgment] to happen or was powerless to prevent it?” (MERRILL, 1991:387). God was faithful to give an irrefutable answer.

Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which none of his diviners could interpret (Dan 2:27) so he ordered their destruction (2:12). But “the mystery was revealed to Daniel in a night vision” (2:19). He confirmed to the king that though his diviners had failed, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” (2:28, 29). This is a remarkable display of God’s sovereignty even over knowledge and wisdom. Man has no ability within himself to acquire revelation outside of God exposing it. To Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, “God gave them knowledge and intelligence in every branch of literature and wisdom; Daniel even understood all kinds of visions and dreams” (1:17). Further, in “every matter of wisdom” and “understanding”, the king “found them ten times better than all the magicians and conjurers who were in [his entire] realm” (1:20). Such was the intelligence of Daniel that he served even the Persian government when they took over Babylon (1:21). Only God could and had done this. “Nebuchadnezzar and all Babylon were therefore to be confronted with unanswerable proof that only Israel’s God was real, sovereign, and limitless in His power.” (ARCHER, 1985:43). And after Daniel interpreted the king’s dream Nebuchadnezzar himself acknowledged that, “Surely your God is the God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries” (2:47).

Concerning the king’s dream, Daniel confirmed to him that due to his power he was indeed “king of kings”, but it is “the God of heaven” who had given him “the kingdom, the power, the strength and the glory” (2:37). So his dominance was a divine act under God’s control, and not his own. To demonstrate this further, an inferior kingdom to his mighty one would rise as the next super power (the Medo-Persians) (2:39). So clearly it was within God’s ability, and not man’s, to enthrone and dethrone world rulers; and in this example, he did not need a militarily superior entity such as Babylon or Assyria to accomplish this.

But the pagan king quickly forgot his own confession that the Lord is “a God of gods and a Lord of kings” (2:47). He set up an image to be worshipped by all nations (3:1-7). He became enraged when Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refused to worship it, and threatened to throw them into “a furnace of blazing fire” and retorted that, “What god is there who can deliver you out of my hand?” (3:13-15). But the three confessed that God was able to deliver them from the fire, and even if He did not, they would not worship the image (3:16-18). Here is an often overlooked revelation on God’s sovereignty. God’s sovereignty doesn’t always dictate that His control and protection over His people would be such that no harm would ever befall them. Everything indeed will work out together for their good (Rom 8:28), but not necessarily that everything that happens to them will be good. The three understood this very well. So they were prepared to face any trial because they knew that the sovereign God would never allow a trial beyond what they could handle (1 Cor 10:13). The Lord eventually delivered them from the furnace that was heated up seven times more than normal (3:19). This left the king “astounded” (3:24) such that he confessed “there is no other god who is able to deliver in this way” (3:29).

The king had another dream which only Daniel could interpret. In the interpretation, the king would “be driven away from mankind and [his] dwelling place be with the beasts of the field… until [he] recognize[s] that the Most High is ruler over the realm of mankind and bestows it on whomever He wishes” (4:25); “it is Heaven that rules” (4:26). “All this eventually happened to Nebuchadnezzar” (4:28) when in pride he sung his own praises instead of God’s (v30). A voice came from heaven and declared to him that, “sovereignty has been removed from you” (v31). Not only was his kingdom taken away from him, but his human dignity as well. God created man in His image, distinct from the rest of creation (Gen 1:26). But this was taken away from Nebuchadnezzar when his reasoning capacity was withdrawn and “he was driven away from mankind and began eating grass like cattle” (4:33).  In contrast, after his judgment period was over he was restored and “surpassing greatness was added to [him]” (v36). So he acknowledged that God “is able to humble those who walk in pride” (v37). After this experience, he fully understood and acknowledged God’s sovereignty, such that he personally gave one of the most profound descriptions of it in Scripture. Contrasting his pagan and prideful background, he confessed that, “His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (4:34, 35).

What is the teenager listening to you writing?

I had the privilege of attending evening service for two consecutive Sundays at a Bible-believing and teaching church, a rare sight today, but the highlight was not necessarily the faithful preaching of and edification by God’s Word, as much as that was indeed a great blessing on both occasions, but the highlight was the fact that both times, I sat next to the same person, a 14 year old teenager.

In both Sundays, he did the same thing, which reminded me more of my early days when I initially got saved. He would open his now half-filled note book and faithfully wrote down as much as he could of what the preacher said, and especially the key points and important facts that were emphasized. In both cases, during most of the sermon his head was often bowed down, writing what he heard from the preacher. And even after he finished writing, he went over what he had written with his pen, slowly rewriting over each letter, this time darkening his initial writing, a practice we can identify with when we were younger. He was careful to capture and ponder over all that the preacher had said.

But the preacher never knew there was such a person in his audience. In the same way in our lives, we have teenage and younger audiences we know nothing about observing our lives. Like this 14 year old teenager listening keenly to the preacher, they watch us very closely, and ponder over all we do and say, whether they are our children living with us or those around our society. Teenagers are almost always surrounded by adults whom they observe consciously and subconsciously, and end up imitating in life. For example, we are quick to blame them for watching too much TV and picking bad habits from the programs, but overlook the fact that when they turn on the TV, it is mostly adults that they see, not fellow teenagers. Even when they go to school, it is adults that teach. Any book, newspaper, or other written material they may pick to read, is always written by an adult. When they surf the internet, chances are that probably all the websites they will visit have been developed by adults.

It is because of this that when the Lord gave the commandment that has been famously labelled the ‘Shema’, He attached certain relevant conditions to it. ‘Shema’ is a Hebrew word meaning ‘to hear’. The commandment is termed the ‘Shema’ because of its opening remark that states, “Hear, O Israel”. The ‘Shema’ is found in Deuteronomy chapter six. Verses 4 to 9 read as follows:

Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD is one! 

You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 

These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart. 

You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. 

You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead. 

You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

The command in its simplicity, admonished Israel to totally love the Lord with all their being, and it is this commandment that Christ repeated in the New Testament and confirmed that it was the Greatest Commandment of all (Matthew 22:37). The relevant conditions then follow, that these words not only be in their hearts, but that they should “teach them diligently” to their sons; they should talk of them when they sit, walk, lie down, and rise up; bind them on various parts of their body, and write them around certain areas of their houses. With these conditions, God not only required His people to teach the ‘Shema’ to their children, but He ensured that even more, their lifestyles would be wholly devoted to living it out; at home or away, sitting or walking, asleep or awake. This is because He knew that beyond verbally teaching their children the command, it would make more impact if they modelled it as well, because by default, children are always surrounded by adults whom they consciously and subconsciously observe and emulate.

The simple question hence arises, what are the children and teenagers around you observing? Are they seeing you live out the ‘Shema’, or are they seeing you ascribe to contrasting beliefs and practices, beliefs and practices that you would condemn if you saw them in their lives? We may accuse the teenagers and children of this generation for taking sin to a whole new level, but in honest truth, they have just been replaying the tape and rereading the books they’ve been recording from hearing and watching us rehearse life.

So, what is the teenager listening to you today writing for use in his future tomorrow?

Are you running a ‘children’s home’ or a ‘feeding lot’?

I recently attended a men's conference by a renowned preacher who focuses on men's ministry. During one of the sessions on love, he made some really convicting statements and gave testimonies on genuine love and motive for serving God. The question kept ringing in my mind, ‘Much as you are a believer, what are your motives for serving God? Is it a quest for personal glory and reward, or a genuine love and heart after God’s glory and the good of His people?’

Common preaching today when it comes to serving God, is centred on stewardship, and the fact that in stewardship, God will judge us for how much we accomplished with what He gave us (this is mostly depicted from the parable in Matthew 25:14-30 on the talents). So the result is that we have Christians running around hastily trying to do as much as they can ‘for God’ so that they may be found to be ‘good and faithful servants’ when our Lord returns. The more works we do in His name the merrier it would seem…

But during the conference, the preacher posed a very interesting thought to us. In one of his testimonies, he mentioned how the Lord had enabled him to take care of about 27 orphans on his farm. He provides them with every basic need and education. So one time a friend and fellow Christian serving God visited him; and on seeing that the preacher was taking care of 27 children, he saw it fit to mention that on his part, he was taking care of a much larger figure of 300 children. So ideally, with his 300, he would have been found to be a more faithful servant than the preacher when the Lord returns.

But interesting to note was his choice of words when he described his 300, he referred to his project as a ‘feeding lot’, to which the preacher was quick to respond that on the other hand, he was running a ‘children’s home’, and not a ‘feeding lot’. While the preacher’s friend measured his ministry in terms of facts and figures, he measured his in terms of love – the children and love for them was more important than their number or feeding program…

His friend was using secular standards of success that are tied to quantity instead of godly standards that are tied to love according to the Greatest Commandment to love God and one another (Mark 12:29-31). So instead of running a children’s home, he was running a feeding lot, where the children indeed knew his hand that provided, but couldn’t put a face that truly cares to the hand.

This poses a challenging question to us, in your service to God, which is more visible, your busy hand, or your loving face? What is your motive for serving God, personal gain or a genuine love for God and His people? What can your service be equated to, a ‘children’s home’, or a ‘feeding lot’?