I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Sunday morning, the 24th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We go straight to the Book of James 1:22:

”But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.”

Then we go straight to the Gospel of Matthew 27:58:

”This man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.”

Yes, we are talking of Joseph of Arimathea, a very rich man. So often, rich people get condemned because they are rich, and I want to tell you something now, some of the most generous people I’ve ever met in my life are rich people, and they are rich because they are hard-working. It’s not a sin to be rich folks. The sin comes when we love money more than God. It’s the love of money that is the sin, not money itself.

Ephesians 2:8 says we have been saved by grace, through faith, and even that, not of ourselves, for it was a gift from God. I know better than anybody that I am saved by grace, there’s nothing good about me that will get me to Heaven. However, we must remember, that once we’ve had an encounter with the Lord, there must be fruit available. Joseph risked his very life asking for the body of Christ from Pontius Pilate. He exposed himself - he could have been killed for that but Pontius Pilate gave him the body of our beloved darling, Jesus Christ. He took that precious body, washed it clean, wrapped it in clean linen cloth and laid it in his own tomb, which he had dug out of solid rock. Remember, faith is a doing word. It’s not just talking, my dear friend.

I remember seeing a cartoon once in a Christian magazine which made me cry. There was a picture of a very big, overfed minister with a dog collar on, and he had a big black Bible in his hand, and with his other hand, he was pointing down at a small little child who was suffering from malnutrition. He also had a big stomach but it was because he was hungry. He was holding a little begging bowl in his hand and the caption under the cartoon said, ”Tell me preacher, will there be food in heaven?”

Today, go out and bless somebody who cannot repay you and you will be blessing God.

Jesus bless you and goodbye.