You can Get Rice from a Rice Shop; not from a Garment Shop
“Come to me, all of you who are tired from carrying heavy loads, and I will give you rest – Mt 11:28 (NIV)”
In the church where we have been worshiping the Lord and the 180 or more churches I have gone until now for sharing my testimony, except for about 10% who are Christians by birth or by
S. THAYAPPAN 77 generations, others are only Hindu converts including many orthodox brahmins and a few Muslims. Having suffered in life, faced innumerable problems, sicknesses, no peace in life and not able to find any solutions by going to various temples and worshiping many gods, having come to know of Jesus Christ through someone and having seen that He is the only true God, they had the COURAGE to abandon their old faith and religion and received Jesus as their Saviour with the hope that here is the real God who loves you and can do anything for you. Yes, one requires enormous real COURAGE to believe and come to Jesus Christ. Many of my Hindu friends who are frustrated and lost all the hope of finding any solution to their ever-increasing problems in family life, professional or social life, used to request me to pray for their problems, sickness or debt etc. after hearing the innumerable miracles and healings done by Jesus Christ. They know very well that Jesus can solve their problems, heal their sickness, give them peace and supply all their needs. Yet they HESITATE to come to Jesus fearing what their close relatives, neighbours or the society may talk about them. The people whom they fear cannot or are not going to help them in any way or solve any of their problems. But yet they HESITATE AND FEAR FOR NOTHING. Those who are BOLD ENOUGH to ignore the ‘no- need-to-bother’ relations and come to Jesus are blessed by the Lord and they get the solution, peace, happiness and all the blessings which they had not got so far or cannot get anywhere else. Such types of bold people who had thrown away the hesitation and come to Jesus Christ only are found in all the churches. Now they are happy for themselves and they have the thirst and sincere longing for their relatives and neighbours also to get the same peace and joy. This is the real intention of every Christian who preaches Christ to others. Absolutely there is nothing else and no other intention at all.
In Mathew Chapter 8 we come across an incident. —Jesus Christ comes down from the mountainside. Large crowds follow Him. At that time, a man with leprosy came and knelt down before Him
and said, “Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean”. Jesus saw his faith and He reached out His hand and touched him. “I am willing, be clean” Jesus said and immediately he was healed of his leprosy. If you look at outwardly, it may look like a person suffering from leprosy got healed immediately on coming to Jesus Christ or it was another healing miracle or crusade done by the Lord. But it is not so. Do you know how much risk the leper had taken before coming to Jesus, the courage and boldness he had built up in his mind to make the final decision of going to Jesus and the driving force of faith in him. Only after so much of hesitation, analyzing the situation, debating the pros and cons, and after long deliberations and determination, he might have gathered enough BOLDNESS AND COURAGE AND THREW AWAY THE HESITATION to go to Jesus Christ. Because in those days it was believed that a person was affected with leprosy as a result of his sins and he was considered a curse and an outcast in the family, among relatives and in the society. Lepers were condemned to live in an isolated place outside the township or fortress. They were not permitted to come inside the town. If anyone was found coming inside the town, as per the law prevalent in those days, they can be stoned to death. If he was called by the priest for any reason, he had to cover his face and body fully with a cloth shouting out “I am a sinner, sinner…” all through the way without touching anyone. Now think of the impediments he had, to come to Jesus Christ. How many obstacles, hurdles, forbidding laws, opposition and the social stigma, the poor leper had to think of before coming to Jesus Christ? But when the leper finally had the BOLDNESS to come to Jesus against all these odds, oppositions and obstacles, he received his miraculous healing. Like him, whoever wants the blessings of Jesus should first throw away their HESITATION AND TAKE A BOLD STEP TO COME TO HIM WITH FULL FAITH. When they come with such faith and boldness, they are rewarded and blessed. The Lord does unimaginable miracles and delivers them from the shackles of the demon, incurable diseases, debt and bondage. When they tell such miracles that happened in
S. THAYAPPAN 79 their lives as a testimony, in the church, one cannot but wonder and praise the Lord. At that time, not only we, every one used to exalt the Lord and thank Him for what He has done to His faithful followers and believers. IF YOU WANT RICE, YOU MUST GO TO A RICE SHOP AND NOT TO A GARMENT SHOP! If you go to a garment shop and ask for rice, can you get it? Similarly if you seek the grace and blessings of the Lord, you should go to the place where it is available. If you go to a place where it is not available, how can your problems and difficulties come to an end?