DELAY GRATIFICATION.
HYMN 28: THERE SHALL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING.
1. There shall be showers of blessing:
This is the promise of love;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
Sent from the Savior above.
o Refrain:
Showers of blessing,
Showers of blessing we need:
Mercy-drops round us are falling,
But for the showers we plead.
2. There shall be showers of blessing,
Precious reviving again;
Over the hills and the valleys,
Sound of abundance of rain.
3. There shall be showers of blessing;
Send them upon us, O Lord;
Grant to us now a refreshing,
Come, and now honor Thy Word.
4. There shall be showers of blessing:
Oh, that today they might fall,
Now as to God we’re confessing,
Now as on Jesus we call!
5. There shall be showers of blessing,
If we but trust and obey;
There shall be seasons refreshing,
If we let God have His way.
MEMORISE:
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:2
READ: Matthew 16:25-26
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.
26 For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?
MESSAGE
“The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:” 1 Peter 5:1
If there is glory to be revealed and the best is yet to come, it means that the future is superior to the present. Hence, a sensible person will not sacrifice a glorious future on the altar of the present. Peter in the scripture above was telling the elders to be willing to sacrifice the present for the future.
The desire for instant gratification is a lethal weapon in the hand of the enemy. In Genesis 25:28-34, we are told that Isaac loved Esau and was thus ready to hand over the baton to him. Esau however lost his future for his present. Whenever Esau killed an animal, he ate it immediately. Jacob on the other hand kept few animals he could lay hands on. When it was time for Esau to prepare a delicacy for his father so as to get the firstborn’s blessing, he didn’t have any meat, so he had to go out to hunt; Jacob on the other hand who obviously had delayed gratification had meat in the backyard that he quickly cooked, served to his father and got the blessings before Esau got back. If only Esau had restrained himself from eating just one of all the animals that he had previously hunted, if only he had delayed gratification a little, things would have turned out differently.
Peter said there is a crown of glory that never fades away (1 Peter 5:4). Don’t trade the pleasures of today for that crown of glory. You don’t want to miss that for anything. The things that look alluring to you now are just tools in the hands of the devil as he fights hard to ensure you don’t get that crown that never fades. The fight will not end until you get the crown. Hebrews 12:2 says that Jesus set His eyes on the joy ahead, hence He was able to endure the pain He suffered. Set your eyes on that incorruptible crown and all the pleasures of this world will mean nothing to you.
KEY POINT:
The future is glorious for those who choose to delay gratification.
BIBLE IN ONE YEAR: Numbers 26-27
