What Dedication!

Now upon the first day of the week, very early in the morning, they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and certain others with them. And they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre. And they entered in, and found not the body of the Lord Jesus. - Luke 24:1-3

Yesterday morning, we were discussing the resurrection in our ladies' Sunday School class. We read the different accounts of the resurrection story and shared our feelings about certain verses or things that stood out to us.

One lady mentioned how special she thought it was that Jesus' first appearance was to a woman (and an adulterous woman at that). Another lady spoke of how the disciples didn't believe the women when they came and told them that Jesus was alive and how often we are just as stubborn to have faith in things we don't understand. Many comments were made and opinions shared. However, we ran out of time before I was able to share something that came to my mind. So, I'll share it with you.

In Luke 24, the Bible tells us that some women were going to the tomb of Jesus. They had spices with them which I believe they intended to use to help preserve the body of Christ. I'm not sure how many women were there, but I know they had a mission.

My question is this: how did they intend to get to the body of Christ? Not only was it guarded by Roman soldiers, but there was a huge stone in front of the door. Did they think the soldiers would allow them to pass? Did they think that the soldiers would move the stone for them? Were the soldiers capable of moving a stone that size? Or, were they doing what they were doing simply because they felt it was their duty? Is it possible that they gave no thought at all to how they were going to accomplish their mission? Is is possible that they were just that dedicated to their Savior?

We may never know the answers to those questions on this side of Heaven, but here's a question we can answer--Are we dedicated enough to the Lord to do what we know He wants us to do without worrying about how we're going to do it? OUCH!!!!

Many times, we feel the Lord leading us to do something or to go down a certain path, but because we can't see all the answers, we fail to do His calling. He bids us to go to a foreign land, and we reply, "But I don't know the language." He calls us to teach, and we argue, "But I'm not good with people." He nudges us to make a donation, and we cry, "But I don't have enough to pay my own bills." We don't see the "how," so we fail to follow His commands.

We've all done it at least once, but are we still doing it? Or, are we following the will of the Lord regardless of how many unanswered questions we have? The women with their spices were determined to fulfill their mission no matter what obstacles lay in their way. Are we willing to do the same? If so, think of the results. Their mission led them to the scene of a miracle. It's possilbe that ours may do the same, but we'll never find out if we aren't dedicated enough to try.