The Moving Walkway
I was travelling sometime ago and while at the airport, I took note of the moving walkway, which some travellers make use of, especially while travelling with heavy luggage. On the moving walkway, you can either stand or walk on it. However, if you decide to walk on it, you will notice that you will get to the end of the walkway faster than someone outside the walkway that is also walking. I was so intrigued when I observed this and as I pondered on it, the Holy Spirit started a lovely teaching moment (I love how the Holy Spirit can use any situation to bring out some amazing gems of wisdom).
The difference between a person walking on a moving walkway and another walking on mere ground is Provided Assistance. The moving walkway makes walking and the maneuvering of your luggage a lot easier and smoother. This added assistance does not negate the need for us to apply our effort in rolling that luggage bag but it makes it a lot easier and enjoyable. We can liken this provided assistance from the moving walkway to Favor.
I define favor as when God specially smiles down on a person and we can see this referenced in Numbers 6:25 Easy-to-Read Version (ERV):
“May the Lord smile down on you and show you his kindness”
The bible says all good and perfect gifts come from God (James 1:17) and favor is a gift that comes directly from God or through people. Luke 2:52 says “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men” (NKJV). Daniel was someone in the bible that walked in the favor of God. He, along with others were taken as a captive to the land of Babylon and when a portion of the king’s food and wine were assigned to them, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to be exempted from such food and wine. This ask from Daniel was highly risk, as this could cost the chief eunuch’s life. Now, when you read the book of Daniel, you will notice that King Nebuchadnezzar was a ruthless king, so the risk of the head of the chief of the eunuchs being cut off was a very high possibility. Such an ask was a death sentence but thank God for favor! God had gone ahead to make Daniel find favor, compassion and loving-kindness with the chief of the eunuchs (Daniel 1:9). Despite the high risk, he proceeded to ask the attendant assigned by the chief eunuch to test them for ten days on just water and vegetables and compare their health to the other youths and deal with them accordingly. At the end of the ten days, they looked way better than their peers. This is favor in action! When you know God has placed favor in a place or in the heart of a person, make use of that favor and don’t allow it to lie dormant.
Now, favor does not negate a person from responsibilities. Someone once said that faith that puts all the responsibilities on God is fake. God has His part to play but we also have our part to play as well. Favor can be released but without us taking responsibility for our part, we limit the height and length of that favor. My pastor once said that “when favor comes, will it meet a sloppy job?” Many times, people pray for God’s favor but unfortunately, when such favor arrives, it meets laziness and a lack of diligence. Favor can bring a job opportunity or contract but it takes diligence to get promoted. Ruth was diligent in gleaning in the field of Boaz and when Boaz returned from his trip, her diligence was what made her noticeable by him. Let’s look at the response of the reaper when Boaz asked about Ruth:
6 The servant in charge of the reapers answered, “She is the young Moabite woman who came back with Naomi from the country of Moab. 7 And she said, ‘Please let me glean and gather after the reapers among the [a]sheaves.’ So she came and has continued [gathering grain] from early morning until now, except when she sat [resting] for a little while in the [field] house.”- Ruth 2:6-7 AMP
Favor gives you an audience with opportunity but it takes diligence in converting that audience with an opportunity into making a remarkable mark in the world. It’s no wonder that Proverbs 22:29 NKJV says “Do you see a man who excels in his work? He will stand before kings; He will not stand before unknown men”. Little did Ruth know that she was standing before an influential and wealthy man (Ruth 2:1), who would eventually get married to her and give her access to being a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ. Wow, out of a foreigner, who God did not want the Israelites to mingle with, ended up being a part of the lineage of Jesus Christ, the Messiah. Truly, Ruth was blessed and highly favored of God.
God’s favor is part of the blessings a child of God has access to. To access it today, you simply have to open your heart to Jesus Christ, as your personal Lord and Savior. If you would like to do so today, please say this prayer:
“Lord Jesus Christ, I believe you are the Son of God and I believe You died for me on the cross of Calvary. I know I am a sinner and today, I come to You to forgive me of all my sins and to make me a brand new creation. I accept You as my personal Lord and Saviour. Thank you Lord for forgiving me and making me born again, in Jesus name, Amen.”
Congratulations!!!! You are now born-again! (It simply means a new born baby in Christ and there is a great celebration in heaven right now because of YOU!
If you made this decision, I would love to hear from you today! Please leave a comment on this post or reach out to me at https://www.cccghq.org/contact/
By: Pastor Ibukun Adewusi