Become saviours !
Are we saviours for our entourage ?
Are we fully aware about the responsibility we have in our hands as believers?
Jesus-Christ knew it and was always a SAVIOUR for those approaching him
in need. If we want to follow His example, we must also be ready to save those
who, in our entourage, are in need for help.
To save.
The first
meaning of "To save" is the get people out of a peril or a dangerous
situation. Saving people can be spectacular:
· Remember for instance Noah
who, while obeying Yehoah, saved not only the human race but also preserved all
the species of nonwatery animals.
· Abraham saved Lot twice: first when
he was kidnapped by the allies of king Chedorlaomer and secondly thanks to
Abraham who was asking with inistance Yehoah to save him before the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah.
· Joseph became the Saviour of Egypt and Israel at the
time the seven years of starving.
We can see
here that testimonies from the Scriptures about some of the people chosen by
our Creator show that many of them, as followers of their Lord Jesus-Christ, were
SAVIOURS and their actions were SPECTACULAR.
King David,
a discrete saviour.
But there are
more discrete saving actions. Let us take examples from David's life.
Starting in
the first book of Samuel, chapter 16, verses 14 to 17 and 21 to 23 :
" 14 But the Spirit of Yehoah departed from Saul, and a
distressing spirit from Yehoah troubled him. 15And Saul's servants
said to him, "Surely, a distressing spirit from Elohim is troubling you.
16Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek
out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will
play it with his hand when the distressing spirit from Elohim is upon you, and
you shall be well."
17So Saul said to his servants, "Provide me now a man who can
play well, and bring him to me."…
21So David came to Saul and
stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer.
22Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Please let David stand before
me, for he has found favor in my sight." 23And so it was,
whenever the spirit from Elohim was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and
play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the
distressing spirit would depart from him."
David, still
very young, relieves Saul from the bad spirit that regularly hit him : he was a saviour for Saul in the sense that he was
able to release him.
Now let us continue
by reading I Samuel, chapter 17, verses 17 to 20 :
" 17Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for
your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to
your brothers at the camp. 18And carry these ten cheeses to the
captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news
of them." 19Now Saul and they and all the men of
20So David rose early in the morning, left
the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded
him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and
shouting for the battle."
Here another
aspect of David's behaviour as a discrete saviour :
he saves the flock of his father in the sense that he entrusted it to another shepherd
while fulfilling his mission, instead of leaving it without any custody.
But later
King David could also be a magnificent saviour.
David having
learned how to be saviour in the small and discrete things of the daily life will
become in the same day, by the power of Yehoah, the great saviour of all his
people of
" 34But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to
keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of
the flock, 35I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the
lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard,
and struck and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both lion and
bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has
defied the armies of the living Elohim." (I Samuel 17 :
34-36)
All these
examples show the multiple facets of the Saviour :
· save somebody from the danger
· relieve a patient who is suffering
· be
sometimes a liberator
· take care of people or goods.
Here are now various
ways we must take to become saviours for our entourage.
How to act
to become a saviour ?
To save means
to know, to love and to be carefull
If we wish to
act as a saviour, first of all we must know and understand the real needs of our
next. It is useful to know that in the Bible, the words to know and to love are
tightly linked together when we speak about the sexual relationship between a man
and his wife. It means that to know well, it is also necessary to love. To
know means also to listen, to be carefull and not to be selfish.
Please read in
Luke, chapter 8, verses 41-56 how Jesus-Christ for instance is showing His
constant care as a saviour:
" 41And behold, there came a man named Jairus, and he was
a ruler of the synagogue. And he fell down at Jesus' feet and begged Him to
come to his house, 42for he had an only daughter about twelve years
of age, and she was dying.
But as He went, the multitudes thronged Him. 43Now a woman, having a
flow of blood for twelve years, who had spent all her livelihood on physicians
and could not be healed by any, 44came from behind and touched the
border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped.
45And Jesus said, "Who touched Me?"
When all denied it, Peter and those with himsaid, "Master, the multitudes
throng and press You, and You say, "Who touched
Me?"'
46But Jesus said, "Somebody touched Me,
for I perceived power going out from Me." 47Now when the woman
saw that she was not hidden, she came trembling; and falling down before Him,
she declared to Him in the presence of all the people the reason she had
touched Him and how she was healed immediately.
48And He said to her, "Daughter, be of good cheer; your faith
has made you well. Go in peace."
49While He was still speaking, someone came from the ruler of the
synagogue's house, saying to him, "Your daughter is dead. Do not trouble
the Teacher."
50But when Jesus heard it, He answered him, saying, "Do not be
afraid; only believe, and she will be made well." 51When He came
into the house, He permitted no one to go in except Peter, James,
and John, and the father and mother of the girl. 52Now all wept and
mourned for her; but He said, "Do not weep; she is not dead, but
sleeping." 53And they ridiculed Him, knowing that she was dead.
54But He put them all outside, took her by the hand and called,
saying, "Little girl, arise." 55Then her spirit returned,
and she arose immediately. And He commanded that she be given something to eat.
56And her parents were astonished, but He charged them to tell no one
what had happened."
To save
means also to give.
If we want to
become a saviour, we must learn how to give. To save means
also to understand that we are on earth to give, at least if we want to be righteous.
Read how Jesus-Christ will address himself to the righteous in Matthew 25 : 31-40 :
" 31 "When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and
all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory.
32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them
one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And
He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then
the King will say to those on His right hand, "Come, you blessed of My
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me
drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36I was naked and you
clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.'
37"Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, "Lord, when
did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38When
did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked
and clothe You? 39Or when did we see You
sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40And the King will answer and
say to them, "Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of
the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me."
We have in ourselves
the powerful potential to give our next all what he needs really if we have
faith. But you must always keep in mind in this affair, that we are simply a
liaison officer. Indeed what we achieve while saving somebody is not our work
only but is mainly coming from our Father through us. It means that the world
around us see that something extraordinary is going on but we should not be astonished
about it, as we have the Holy Spriti of the Father in us!
Nothing
changed since King David, when he relieved Saul of his bad spirit. The key of this
event is given in I Samuel 16:18:
"18Then one
of the servants answered and said, "Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the
Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war,
prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and
Yehoah is with
him."
Let us address
real needs of people!
Don't
believe that to save is synonymous of to give money. We wrote earlier that we
must observe carefully to meet the real needs of our next. Peter and John were giving
a very nice example about this in Acts 3: 1-7:
"1 Now
Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth
hour. 2And a certain man lame from his mother's womb was carried,
whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple which is called Beautiful, to
ask alms from those who entered the temple; 3who, seeing Peter and
John about to go into the temple, asked for alms. 4And fixing his
eyes on him, with John, Peter said, "Look at us." 5So he
gave them his attention, expecting to receive something from them. 6Then
Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you:
In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." 7And
he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and
ankle bones received strength."
Here, alms
was not the real need but curing was the one!
Let us
continue to read verses 12 to 16:
"12So when
Peter saw it, he responded to the people: "Men of Israel, why do you
marvel at this? Or why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or
godliness we had made this man walk? 13The Elohim of Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob, the Elohim of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you
delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to
let Him go. 14But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for
a murderer to be granted to you, 15and killed the Prince of life,
whom Elohim raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. 16And His
name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and
know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect
soundness in the presence of you all."
Sisters, brethren and friends, do not be shy but have the faith to
become saviours and after each act of rescue, recognize the power of your
Father who is living and acting in your body. So-doing will give a source of
joy and perseverance while walking in the narrow path which will bring you in
the Kingdom of our Creator!