"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor, He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives, and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free those who are oppressed." (Luke 4:18) How beautiful are the words when we hear them proclaimed from pulpits and shared in small group settings. Sadly we sometimes hear them as beautiful words and not a call to action.
When the words were originally used in Isaiah 61 the prophet was filled with the power of the Holy Spirit and was declaring the re-birth of Israel in exile. When Jesus uses the words in Luke he has just returned from the temptations and is beginning his ministry in Galilee. In some ways it was his ordination process, and his marching orders.
Okay! So what? How does this translate for you and me sitting at our computers? Maybe you are sitting at work reading this blog, or possibly sitting in your den or kitchen. It really doesn’t matter. What we must do is allow the Word to come alive for us in our daily lives wherever we would find ourselves. Have you ever experienced exile or temptation? Have you just come through a difficult time in your life? Are you experiencing a feeling of aloneness in your life? How often we hold tight and try to endure the hardships. I am sick of well-meaning people telling me, “this too shall pass,” as though the only answer to life’s problems is to grin and bear it. (Side note: “this too shall pass” is not Biblical, it may sound Biblical but it’s not, neither is “grin and bear it.”)
We need to call upon the Spirit of the Lord. When we have done that along with walking through the dark periods of life we are ready to preach. When we feel the Spirit of the Lord on us, we are sent to release those who are where we were! When we have the Spirit of the Lord on us, we are to see and help others see things from a different perspective. If you declare the Lords faithfulness in your life, you are given no alternative but to set free those around you who are oppressed. I don’t know about you, but I find oppressed people wherever I go. Ask any student who has started back to school in the past two weeks if they do not feel oppressed. Ask any single mother raising her children if she does not feel oppressed? Jesus left His time of temptation not to sit it out on the sidelines but to go on the offensive in His ministry.
I here many people in my life telling me how much they love the Lord their God with all their hearts, soul, mind, and strength. What I hear you saying is, “the Spirit of the Lord is upon me.” If this is true, you cannot leave out the rest of the passage, “because He has anointed me to…" What has God anointed you to do? He has anointed you to not only worship Him, but to LIVE for Him! LIVING is an action! It's time we go on the offensive in our walk with the Lord. I would rather die moving forward with Christ than sitting still waiting for His return.
On the journey together,
Kirk
Posted on
Thu, August 26, 2010
by Kirk Norman