Post #86(a) - God's Business

I have been reading and listening to the bible, the New Testament, a lot more than usual lately. Once I finish, I start over again and each time I seem to catch something new that I didn't catch before. During one of the readings, I began to notice how Jesus, Peter, Paul, and the early apostles handled opposition. 

I noticed that they didn't attempt to fight over meaningless, petty topics. They only "fought" about God's business. 

The one time in the bible when we see Jesus get unusually angry is when He runs the merchants out of the temple. He overturned the merchants' tables and shouted, "it is written, My house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it into a den of thieves!"

Even in this instance, when we see Jesus at His angriest, He is not mad about the petty complaints brought to Him or His enemies opposing Him. He is not fighting over someone leaving Him or having a different opinion than Him or things not going His way. We only see Jesus fighting over God's business. 

We see this in the early apostles as well. These were men who started out the same way we did, not understanding their authority and power in the Lord. But when they came to that understanding, they left the petty arguments for someone else to fight. They focused on God and God's business. 

That's the way we should be. Our focus should be in only one direction. But, we allow foolishness to distract us and make us act other than godly. We neglect to practice patience or show compassion. If someone offends us or exerts power over us, we fly right into a rage and try to prove that we are badder than they are.

Why don't we fight for God's business like that? 

Why don't we get mad when the devil opposes us? Why don't we fly into a rage when he tries to exert power over us? Why don't we use our godly anger to put the devil in his place? To show him that we are badder than he is?

We should take a lesson from Jesus and the early apostles and believers who put pettiness in its place. They only fought against the devil, only for the kingdom of God. They understood the importance of praying and fasting and rebuking the enemy. 

They understood the power in not allowing difficult situations make us forget who we are in the Lord. When they were knocked down, they got back up... They were attacked and beaten and stoned, and they still kept their focus on God and went about completing His work. 

They didn't fight for recognition or titles. They didn't fight to be in charge or get the spotlight. They only fought for God's business. 

We, like they, should only be fighting for God's business, too.