“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me,
Because He has anointed Me
To preach the gospel to the poor;
He has sent Me [a]to heal the brokenhearted,
To proclaim liberty to the captives
And recovery of sight to the blind,
To set at liberty those who are [b]oppressed;
19 To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.” –Luke 4: 18-19, NKJV
The whole matter of healing, and ministry in general, involves the question, Why are we on this earth? Or, What is the meaning of life? Why are you here?
The short answer is: We are here for the same reason Jesus was here: to make a difference for good, as expressed in the quote above.
Why? Because we are created in the image of God, and redeemed and recreated by Jesus’ blood and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do the same works Jesus did.
To be the salt and light in the world.
To live a life of love—the essence of the Kingdom of God.
In our marriages and families.
In school and on our jobs.
In our neighborhoods.
In our barangays or country.
Jesus said, Take up your cross and follow me.
In other words, suffer redemptively, in a fallen world that needs lots of help.
This is very different than religion as just an hour or so of church each week.
And extremely different from the self (or media) absorbed lives so many people live, which is not life at all.
So, PRAY. Ask the One who died and arose for you to come in to your life, and give you a new, meaningful direction, and be led and empowered by the Holy Spirit to make a difference.
What’s the alternative? If we aren’t here to serve God, through living lives of love, why are we here?
