Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Shake It Off!


But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets and say, Even the dust of your town that sticks to our feet we wipe off against you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God is near.' I tell you, it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town. (Luke 10:10-12)

Shake it off! There was a popular secular song entitled “Shake It Off” recorded by Mirarah Carey a few years back. The song was basically about a relationship that went wrong and the singer was trying to “shake off” the effects and memories of the relationship. As I continued my study of Luke 10 today, I couldn’t help but chuckle to myself visualizing the early disciples shaking of dust as they left the towns of people that refused to receive them and the Savior who sent them. If you weren’t a believer and saw the Men of God behaving like this, I suppose you would find it comical and maybe even question their sanity. Let’s use our spiritual imagination and visualize watching one shake and wipe dust from their feet. Many times we cannot see dust unless we are close up on it. So as an onlooker watching, you would most likely see men wiping their shoes or sandals in attempts to remove invisible mites that attached itself to them. The disciples were commissioned to spread the gospel. They couldn’t afford to contract negativity, disbelief and wicked spirits.

Now let’s think about this a little more critically. Have you ever been in the presence of someone that is in a really bad mood or someone that is really down and sulking in a personal pity party? Many times, when you leave the individual you find yourself feeling drained, down or distracted. Now, not only are you dealing with the individual’s baggage but now you have to get your mind right so that you can carry out the rest of your day. If you aren’t able to get back into the right spirit, you will walk into your next assignment or meeting place carrying the same contaminate and the cycle will continue. This is what Jesus was trying to keep from happening to his disciples. Jesus wanted them to physically shake the dust from their feet as an illustration to us that we must not allow the negativity or disbelief of others to cling to us. The enemy is a great deceiver. If we allow him to, he will use our emotions against. We can’t afford to carry around extra baggage. We have to cast all of our cares at the Lord’s feet and “shake it off”.

Notice that Jesus did not tell them to “set the people straight” or attempt to help them “see the light”. Instead, he told them to rid themselves of anything connecting them to the nonbelievers and keep it moving. Too often we spend time trying to save the World. Everyone is not going to receive us or He who sent us. That does not mean that we should stop witnessing or praying for the unsaved but it does mean that we should continue to proceed with the assignment that the Lord has placed on our lives and stop allowing the enemy and his negativity to travel with us from place to place.

7 comments:

Parkay said...

Nice Post, I got some dusting to do, lol. Keep em coming my sista in Christ. PEACE

Spring M Fricks said...

Girl, I am going to bottle you up and put you on my shelf. You are a shot of encouragement when I need it most. If you were here I would hug you. :-)

You are so right. People have trouble expressing feelings to the one who loves them most. I love that topic. How awesome it is to explore a true friendship with Jesus. Talk about moving mountains!

And you crack me up. You need to write more? If I could write half as much as you do I would be flying high! You are awesome.

I am very glad the Lord brought our blogs together.

HALLELUJAH said...

Sister Shanita,

Thank You so much for your words of encouragement with this gift given unto me for the glorifying of the Lord JESUS Christ.

Shake it off so appropriate, thank GOD for the spirit of discernment if someone is not interested in hearing or seeing the Good News we are to dust our feet and move on.

For us, keep your spirit alive and well!!!


GOD Bless~~~

Keith D. Witherspoon said...

Great Post. Thanks for stopping by my blog and for the wonderful comment. I've enjoyed what I see in your blog and I will make it a constant read.

Johnny said...

Shanita, thank you for your post. It is my pleasure. God bless you.

Spring M Fricks said...

Okay, now I'm excited! I knew you had a published book but I didn't realize it was a novel. I'm going to have to look it up and read it.

I also write fiction. It is my passion. I have one completed novel but haven't sold it yet. It's a little too short so I'm revising.

I am now your cheerleader. Expect great encouragement to write more regularly on your new book my friend!

Spring M Fricks said...

Oh, and yes, I was able to cut the cat down to two meals a day but she still sings in the middle of the night and it is driving us crazy.

I love her but the 2, 3, and 4 am wake up call is wearing thin, Perhaps a voice-ectomy? LOL