Matthew 11:16-20, 25-30

“ Don't become wise in your own eyes and think because God is slow to act that He does not see!”

May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be acceptable in thy sight, Oh Lord, Our King, Our Strength and Our Redeemer! AMEN

In the name of the Father,the son,and the holy spirit-

WELCOME!

Today's gospel reading show us two aspects of the grace of God.

1. God gives people time to repent from their sins; both the unrepentant who are not in the church and those unrepentant people who do attend church!

The people of Jesus' day had their own ideas about God and what His true leaders would be like and as a result they missed the blessings that could have come to them!

The grace of God being alive and well means that He give people ample time to change their attitudes towards Him and to believe He exists and is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him!

Many people of Jesus' time believed in God but did not want to believe anyone from God who pointed out that a change of lifestyle relative to God was required.

So they found reasons to reject what John told them and then when Jesus came on the scene they rejected Him also!

Today, people are being brought up in a post Christian society and so belief in God is not very high on their radar. So we find people in and out of the Church who think God does not really exist. As a result they see the Church either as irrelevant or as a place where they can make money from people of faith whose guards are down.

God IS alive though and He sees all things and is forbearing towards all sinners. He gives us time to repent and instruction in righteousness.

We should remember though that while it's the goodness of God that leads to repentance; Judgement and wrath comes when His patience ends!

2. As believers though we are exhorted to look to Jesus as our guide and follow in His footsteps.

Jesus is Lord! All power and authority is in His hands. It is only through Him that we will find true rest, true peace, true prosperity, health and a long meaningful life.

To have rest and contentment is to have all those things. One's soul would not be at rest if those were missing and elsewhere in the bible, our handbook, God makes this plain.

He tells Hos true followers that He will satisfy them with long life. He tells them that His thought are in plans to give them good things and an expected end.

He tells us that above all things He wants us to prosper and be in health even as our soul prospers. So two kinds of prosperity and good health are on God's agenda for us. But we have to be followers to receive from God.

Then God will reward us according to His riches in Glory in Christ Jesus. God is able to do far more abundantly that we could ever ask or think.

God wants the best for all His people and we can receive it if we would only have faith in Him and not try to grab for ourselves. His thoughts towards are always good and He's always thinking about us!

You may find this hard to believe but look at what David says in Psalm 139:17-18.

Ps 139:17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered!

v18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me!

God thinks about so much each day that you couldn't count how many times He thought of you today. When you went to bed He was thinking about you and when you woke up He was still there!

That's the comfort that only a child of God can have. People go for fleeting gains through self effort and miss out on the love of God.

Let's not be among those who in their thoughtful moments have a fearful dread of the judgement. We believers can with a clear conscience enjoy an abundant life now and in the age to come, everlasting life with God. And in the presence of god there is joy forever more!

May the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God,and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore.

Amen.

Janetta.