Don't Kill The Rooster

DON’T KILL THE ROOSTER

By Pastor Jim May

Anyone who knows anything about the Bible will be able to tell you about Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus into the hands of the Jews. Judas was one of the chosen 12 disciples, but his heart was never changed. His one and only mission in life was to gain the wealth of this world. I don’t read anywhere that Judas was ever committed to the Lord in service. He kept the treasury for the disciples as they traveled, he was there for many of the miracles and teachings that the Lord did during his 3-1/2 year ministry, but there is no indication that Judas ever really became involved in anything other than the business side of being a disciple. He had all the same opportunities. He heard all the same teaching. He was chosen, just like all the rest of the disciples, but he simply would not let go of the things of this present world.

Judas is like so many people in the church today. Just pick any church you want to, small or large, it won’t matter. And look into any denomination, or any independent church you want to, and I guarantee, in the midst of every one of them, there will be some with the same mindset as Judas Iscariot.

It’s not really hard to spot them if you look. You can tell by the things they are involved in and by their commitment to true ministry.

It is a great thing to be involved in ministries of helps around the church. Without everyone pitching in and doing their part, it wouldn’t be long until we would have to close the doors and find somewhere else to go to worship the Lord. I thank God for all of you; for your hard work and dedication to the House of God. I commend you for you work and I ask you to keep on doing what you do because we all need you so desperately.

Most of those who are involved in ministries of helps are such a blessing. Their ministry is done out of a heart of love for God and for their fellowman. I believe that God will reward them for their faithfulness in a job where they often get little, if any, thanks from other people.

But there are a few who will be like Judas. These people will be involved in everything that goes on around the church. They will be at every social gathering, hanging around with everyone else and doing all they can to make the church successful, but why are they involved?

Are they involved because they really love the Lord, or because they just want to appear busy and look the part of a true Believer? I suppose that what I’m trying to say here is that we can put on a façade of Christianity, be busy doing a lot of work for the Kingdom of God, hanging out with God’s people, hearing the preaching of the Gospel, and doing everything that all our brothers and sisters in Christ are doing, and still not have a heart after God.

Good works are commendable and necessary to prove your faithfulness but why do we do those good works? Is it because we love Jesus, or is it because we have the same attitude that Judas Iscariot had? Are we concerned with our image before other people more than our true relationship with Jesus? Are we more concerned with what the preacher will think than we are with what Jesus will think about us?

Judas had his heart set on the things of this world and those “things” were the god of his life. His heart was never able to see just who Jesus really was. He never really caught on to the great calling that had been put upon his life. It’s a sad thing to note that Judas had every chance but never accepted Jesus and allowed the Lord to change his heart.

Before the Holy Ghost fell on the Day of Pentecost, Judas was already in the flames of hell. He could have done like the thief that hang next to Jesus and repented, even after he had betrayed the Lord, but he could not find a place of repentance and went out and committed suicide. He finally came to realize that he had rejected God and tried to give back the reward for betraying Jesus but there was no turning back now, he had gone too far.

I can only hope and pray that those in the church today with a heart after the things of this world, like Judas, will wake up and realize that they need to turn back to Jesus in repentance and stop denying his Lordship over their lives.