Least part 1
I think human beings are very adaptable. We can get used to just about anything. And while this can be a good thing, it can also lead to some problems. Because oftentimes it means we are willing to settle. Rather than pressing forward, sometimes we look around and sigh and say, "I guess this is as good as it gets." Sometimes we're okay with the least of it. Look how this even comes out in our language: "It's the least I could do." And we say this like it's an accomplishment. We did just barely enough. Hooray! (Sarcarsm.) Or, "At least I did blah blah blah." Again, settling for the bare minimun. Can I tell you something? Jesus came to give us life, and that more abundantly. He came right down into the human condition--working for everything we have and getting just enough to scrape by--and He showed us a more excellent way. He showed us what it really means to live. To live is to love and to love is to live. To love is to give. To LIVE is to give. He showed us that a life of just trying to get what we want is the least kind of life you can live. But it's become the norm. Guys, if you win the rat race (if it's even possible to win it...) all you are is king rat. You might get that piece of cheese, but when it's gone you'll have to start all over again. Jesus said it like this, "...Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life" (John 4:13-14). A couple of things here: First, the water is a GIFT. We don't have to earn a gift. And in fact, we CAN'T earn a gift. If you have to earn it it's wages. And when the Bible speaks of wages it tells us that the wages of sin is death. We're not here to try to earn anything. We're here to receive and release the gift of God. And the gift of God is eternal life. And eternal life is knowing the Father and the One whom the Father sent. Which is what the gift of the living water springs up into us! A well of everlasting life! Something that we can draw from--now watch this--when other people are thirsty. Because we aren't thirsty anymore. We're filled to overflowing with the only thing that can satisfy us. And since we are now satisfied--we've come to the source and are no longer looking for love in all the wrong places--now we can turn our attention to others. The Tree of Life has leaves that are for the healing of the nations. We are the branches that carry the fruit (which is love) and the leaves TO the nations! We take what we've got and we share it. And by sharing it we experience it to an abundant degree! By sharing what we have we move out of the realm of "least" and into the realm of "abundant!" By releasing it, we truly receive it. Let me say it like this: If someone is lost in outer darkness, they don't need condemnation; they need to see the light. WE are the light of the world because HE is the light of the world IN us. And when what's in us comes out of us (flowing like that river of living water) that's when we can really start to reach people. That's when we can baptize (or immerse) people in the name (or nature, or character) of Jesus. Not necessarily by preaching to them... but simply by loving them! (It's the least we can do...)