Lent: Women ministering to Jesus

Luke 8:1-3

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How do you respond to the work of God in your life? Do you ever find yourself forgetting His blessings within a day or two? If blessings from the Lord are few and far between, is that because He isn't blessing you or because you're not recognizing and acknowledging His blessings? Except for Mary Magdalene, Luke doesn't specify what Jesus healed these women of, but they were obviously very grateful to Him and responded to His blessing by blessing Him in return. They left the comfort of their own homes to provide for Jesus and His disciples, not as paid help but giving freely out of their own resources. The importance of their work is not in how much each woman gave but in the fact that each did give back to Jesus and by extension to His disciples. How much less He would have been able to accomplish if He had needed to leave time each day for His closest followers to prepare the food, wash the clothes, buy new sandals, and all the other details that these women apparently managed for them.
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When the Lord blesses you, do you thank Him in any practical way? It doesn't take 2 seconds to verbalize a prayer of thanksgiving, and that is certainly worthwhile, but do you also respond in ways that make a difference in building His Kingdom? While we can't follow along providing for His physical needs (since He doesn't have any) here are some stepping stone ideas that I have/do/should implement in my own life as a response to His blessings toward me:

• give a financial donation to a needy individual/organization for each unexpected financial blessing that you receive
• give a regular portion (beyond a tithe) of your income back to God's people in some way
• set aside a consistent time each day to spend in prayer and Bible study
• volunteer in a regular way for an organization whose mission you support
• set a goal for yourself of inviting someone over for a meal on a regular basis
• make a practice of visiting some people who will never visit you (elderly, neighbors, disabled individuals), with or without a present or offer of service

God does bless you every day and there are so many ways to respond to His gifts. Take time to recognize those blessings and respond to them by returning each one in some way.