Don’t Be Selfish

If we go to the Book of Joshua 1:12, we see that the tribe of Reuben and the tribe of Gad and half the tribe of Manasseh asked Joshua if they could remain on the other side of the river, when the children of Israel went across into the promised land.

Joshua sought the Lord and the Lord said it was okay. But there was a condition - first, they had to help their brothers settle in the land of Canaan. They had to help fight their enemy and ensure that they settled before they could return to their land, on the other side of the Jordan River.

What the Lord has impressed upon me, as I read this scripture, is that we must, as Christians, be very careful not to become selfish. You know the adage ‘I’m alright Jack’? This attitude is not acceptable to the Lord Jesus Christ. Remember, He came down from heaven, from His throne and became a very ordinary person on this earth, to make a way for you and me to attain eternal life. The very least we can do is to be unselfish towards our fellow man.

Remember the story I told not so long ago about a young man on horseback, probably in the late 1800s, who was looking for work and just across the way from the farm that I am living on now. In those days the district roads had gates because the farms would go across the roads. As he was coming to this gate he saw, coming behind him, was an old motorcar, probably a Model-T Ford. He jumped off his horse, opened the gate and stood back to let the car go past. He tipped his hat to the old man and woman in the motor car, and as they went through, he went back to close the gate and then got on his horse. 

The car pulled over on the side of the road and the old gentleman said: "Where are you going, son?" The young man replied, "I am looking for work". The old gentleman replied "Well, I’m looking for a farm-worker, would you like a job with me?’ He accepted the job gladly. The farm was just down the road and that old couple had no children. When they died, they left the farm, a beautiful farm even to this day - a magnificent farm, to this young man who had been unselfish - left it to him in their will!

I truly believe that, as Christians, we need to be very careful to look after each other, not to just look after ourselves - Then God will do the rest.

God bless,
Angus and Jill Buchan