CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO
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WEEKLY TORAH PORTION |
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CONGREGATION
MELECH YISRAEL OF TORONTO |
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One of the negative characteristics of fallen and unregenerate man is that he always wants to be in control. Now, for those who do not know what I’m talking about when I say fallen and unregenerate man let me explain. In Gan Eden (The Garden of Eden) Adam was totally dependant on G-d. He did not have to farm, he did not have to weed, he did not have to concern himself with where he would live or even what he would ware because everything was provided for him by G-d. However, man was obviously not content being reliant on G-d and with the prodding deceptiveness of Satan man sinned; he tried to gain his independence and self reliance by rebelling against G-d. This is what I mean by fallen man. He fell away from dependence upon G-d and he fell into a life dominated by sin and self reliance. G-d, however, knew that man would reject Him so he made plan, and His plan was to provide a redeemer to redeem man from is fallen state. The redeemer was to be the Mashiach (Messiah) who would come and pay the penalty for sin; we now know Him as Yeshua HaMashiach. Yeshua came to regenerate man and return him to a state when he could be, once again, totally dependant on G-d of his own free will. However, not everyone wants to accept what the Mashiach came to do for them and therefore, have rejected G-d’s plan of redemption; these people are unregenerate! Adam had it made, would you not agree? How many of us would love to be in the position he was in? Not a care or worry in the world. Hungry then just pick and eat; tired from picking then lie lay down and take a nap. Look around and all you see is beauty, tranquility and harmony. This is something, we today, only see or hear in fairy tales. Have you not dreamed of just running away to some deserted tropical island to live on sun, sea and coconuts? Well, that is what Adam had, but he was not satisfied. Why, because he was not in control! He wanted to be in control of his own life. Being dependant on someone, even if it was G-d, was not satisfying to him. You would think, however, that once someone came to salvation through Yeshua HaMashiach and had their spirits regenerated that they would now have no trouble turning their life over to G-d and allow Him to be in total control, but not so! One of the hardest things for people to do, even those who are saved (Believers in Yeshua HaMashiach and regenerated by the Ruach HaKodesh [Holy Spirit]), is to relinquish control of their lives to HaShem. We all desperately try to hang on to that last vesture of our human character; we still want to be in control. Throughout biblical history we read about how bnei Yisrael (the children of Israel) rebelled against G-d. Why was there all of this rebellion, because they wanted to do their own thing their own way! The thing is that you and I are no different! We panic when we are not in control. We worry when we can not see the end of a problem, and all the while G-d is telling us to just let go and let Him work everything out for us. Bnei Yisrael made a mess of things, and they made a mess of their lives, and because of their desire to be in control they suffered for it and are still suffering for it until this very day. You too will suffer the consequence of always wanting to be in control. After all, do you think you are any different to G-d then Adam or bnei Yisrael? Bereshit {3:17} To Adam he said, "Because you have listened to your wife's voice, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it,' cursed is the ground for your sake. In toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. {3:18} Thorns also and thistles will it bring forth to you; and you will eat the herb of the field. {3:19} By the sweat of your face will you eat bread until you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken. For you are dust, and to dust you shall return." Remember this; G-d has His ways of showing you that you are not in control! He’ll put you in a situation, put tragedies, including perhaps sickness as well as (G-d forbid) the death of loved ones, into your life just to show you that you are not in control. What will you do when something bad happens to you? Will you shake your fist at G-d and blame Him for all your troubles? Will you write it off to bad karma or to “stuff happens,” or to bad genes, or to chance? Or will you recognize it as G-d trying to tell you to let go, that you are not in control, and allow Him to be in control? Bnei Yisrael has still not learned their lesson. In fact even the holocaust has not caused them to relinquish control. I now ask; what must HaShem do to you before you let go? Think about it!! Mattityahu (Matthew) {6:25} "Therefore, I tell you, don't worry about your life -- what you will eat or drink; or about your body -- what you will wear. Isn't life more than food and the body more than clothing? {6:26} Look at the birds flying about! They neither plant nor harvest, nor do they gather food into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren't you worth more than they are? {6:27} Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to his life? {6:28} "And why be anxious about clothing? Think about the fields of wild irises, and how they grow. They neither work nor spin thread, {6:29} yet I tell you that not even Shlomo (Solomon) in all his glory was clothed as beautifully as one of these. {6:30} If this is how God clothes grass in the field -- which is here today and gone tomorrow, thrown in an oven – won’t He much more clothe you? What little trust you have! {6:31} "So don't be anxious, asking, `What will we eat?' `What will we drink?' or `How will we be clothed?' {6:32} For it is the pagans who set their hearts on all these things. Your heavenly Father knows you need them all. {6:33} But seek first his Kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. {6:34} Don't worry about tomorrow -- tomorrow will worry about itself! Today has enough trouble already! Baruch HaShem Rabbi Ya'acov Farber |
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