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SCRIPTURE READINGS

ACTS 2:36-41

1 PETER 1:17-23

LUKE 24:13-35

SUNDAY REFLECTION

The theme for our reflection is Lord, stay with us. Lord, stay with us is a passionate prayer or request of a believer to continually experience the glory or presence of God. We shall delve deeper to explore the importance of the Lord staying with us:

1. When the Lord stays with us our spiritual eyes are opened and our faith is revived to witness.
2. We experience transformation and regeneration when the Lord stays with us.

First, we must strongly yearn for the Lord to stay with us because through His presence in our lives, our spiritual sight is restored and our faith is revived to witness. Luke tells us that “Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem… As they approached the village to which they were going, Jesus continued on as if he were going farther. But they urged him strongly, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening; the day is almost over.” So he went in to stay with them. When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it and began to give it to them. Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him, and he disappeared from their sight” (Luke 24:13,28-31). How could they have had their eyes opened and their faith revived if they had not invited Jesus to stay with them? Beloved in the Lord, having a relationship with Jesus and inviting Him to stay with us keeps our spiritual eyes open because we come to know the truth about our salvation through the resurrected Christ. Jesus assures us that, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32) Consequently, our faith is revived and we are compelled to witness to others about the resurrected Christ and His glory in our lives. Again, Peter admonishes us that Jesus is worth inviting when he wrote to the Jews that “He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake. Through him, you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.” (1 Peter 1:20-21). When the two believers had experienced the revelation and glory of the Lord, they “…got up and returned at once to Jerusalem. There they found the Eleven and those with them, assembled together and saying, “It is true! The Lord has risen and has appeared to Simon.” Then the two told what had happened on the way, and how Jesus was recognized by them when he broke the bread. (Luke 24:33-35) When Jesus stays with us and opens our eyes, we are compelled to let others know about our experience with Him and this is known as witnessing. Dear friend, have you experienced Jesus and have you witnessed to others about Him? This our main duty as believers, to tell the world about our experience with the Resurrected Christ, for we were once blind and lost but now Jesus has restored our sight and has found us worthy of His salvation. When the disciple experienced the resurrected Christ, their faith was revived and Jesus said to them “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20) Again when the Psalmist experienced the presence of the Lord in His life, He wrote, “I will declare your name to my people; in the assembly, I will praise you.” (Psalms 22:22) It is now our turn to witness to the world about Jesus and what He has done for us since the time He saved us and has become part of our lives. Cleopas and his friend, immediately after encountering Jesus and having their eyes opened travelled back from Emmaus to Jerusalem which is about seven miles or eleven and a half kilometres to tell others about their new encounter with resurrected Christ. How far are you willing to go to witnesses and how enthusiastic are you about your faith and encounter with Jesus? Many believers share their experience of new movies, secular music and other information of mutual interest with friends and family but how often do we share our encounter with Jesus with others? If we desire Jesus to stay with us then we must be ready to listen to Him, have our eyes opened and become witnesses of His presence in our lives.

Second, as sinners, we experience transformation and renewal when we invite Jesus to stay with us. It was, for this reason, Peter preached to the Jews to invite Jesus into their lives when he said to them “…God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah.” When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit… Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day. (Acts 2:36-38,41). Beloved in the Lord, in Christ we live and experience true transformation and renewal to the glory of God. He has promised anyone who invites Him to stay in his or her life that “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. (John 10:10). This is the eternal life we receive through repentance, regeneration and faith in Christ Jesus. Dear friend, if you feel estranged from Christ and enslaved by sin because you do have a relationship with Jesus then I invite you today to repent and through faith invite Jesus to come and stay with you. He says, “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne. Whoever has ears, let them hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” (Revelation 3:20-22)

In summary, the theme for our reflection is “Lord, stay with us”. We have discovered two importance of inviting Jesus to stay with us in our lives. First, when we invite the Lord to stay with us, our spiritual eyes will open and our faith will be revived and we shall become witnesses of the resurrected Christ. Second, we experience transformation and regeneration when the Lord stays with us. May the Holy Spirit empower us to live the transformed life to the glory of God. Amen.