Eliminated
“I will thrust you from your office…”
Every year before beginning the regular season, all the football, baseball and basketball teams have practices, with two objectives in mind:
- To train the athletes in all the techniques and strategies of the game, to make sure that they will be prepared for the games.
- To observe all the athletes in action, in order to determine who will become the regulars, who will be the “bench players” and which ones will be eliminated.
Because of this, all the athletes make a great effort to find favor in the eyes of the “coach,” or technical director. He has the authority and the power, to place or to eliminate; to accept or to reject a player.
It does not matter if an athlete has had a spectacular career for many years. If his talent diminishes with age, or if the team obtains a younger (cheaper) player, the athlete will be promptly replaced.
This is what happened to the scribe Shebna and to Judas Iscariot. Both were dropped from the team of the Lord, and others—better than they were—took their place.
The Lord Jesus Christ is our spiritual “coach.” He trains us in the faith and guides us at all times. But with knowledge comes responsibility, which means that each Christian must apply what they have learned to their lives.
The believer who is negligent can be eliminated (even though they do not lose their salvation) from the ministry. Let us be diligent in the work of the Lord and he will help us prevail in the race.
