"The Muster"

"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days." (John 4:39-40 KJV) 

  "Take hold of my instructions; don't let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life." (Proverbs 4:13 NLT)

 As I was thinking about what it means to me, that God always keeps His word, I couldn't help but think of all the times that I have not kept my word to Him. When I say all the times, it is in general, because I have no possible way to count all the times; maybe I can count the times within the last week, but even then, I would probably leave out several moments or events. 

 You might be wondering about this strange title, "The Muster," as it seems to not make any sense; but it was the closest thing I could think of, having served in the military, I thought it might somehow work to show a turn of events. There are several types of muster that they have in the military: there is the general muster, which is usually just a calling together for instruction or a general inspection; and then there is a surprise muster, which is usually at the request of the commanding officer, so as to see the condition of his troops on short notice.

 To be perfectly honest, none of that seems to make any sense! That said, what I was really looking for was the caption of the word, Must, as in the reason Jesus went into this place to begin with; which then led me to the thought of, 'Cutting the Muster," as in, did to rise to His expectation once it all came together. Surprised or not, I am more than confident that Jesus was well pleased with the turnout of events; pleased enough to hang out and spend two days with them! 

 If I could, let me take a moment and share what a surprise inspection might have looked like. First off, you get the call, "All hands on deck," which means that you go right away, and you don't have any chance to comb you hair or hardly tuck in your shirt. Then once assembled and waiting, the commander comes out, walks through the ranks, and then leaves; leaving you wondering if you cut the muster or not. You will usually know within the next two days, in a form of special detail, like buffing a floor or cleaning a head, which means a bathroom. 

 If I have bored you with all of this, forgive me; but if you are interested in why it even matters, it is because of what we usually expect, whether it be from a certain church function, a prayer meeting, or just your routine Sunday Service. We must always expect God is going to be doing something, even if we don't see what He is doing, He is always doing something! 

 I guess what I am trying to say, is that we don't know what it is that will bring about a certain result; it could just be a person that came without even knowing why, who gets touched by a message, gets excited about what they heard, and tells a few people; and before you know it, there is some sort of a revival that takes place, without anyone expecting it to happen. 

 This is God's call to all, always: Be expecting to be called; even the least of these, He calls...

"The king of Aram had great admiration for Naaman, the commander of his army, because through him the LORD had given Aram great victories. But though Naaman was a mighty warrior, he suffered from leprosy. At this time Aramean raiders had invaded the land of Israel and among their captives was a young girl who had been given to Naaman's wife as a maid. One day the girl said to her mistress, "I wish my master would go to see the prophet in Samaria. He would heal him of his leprosy."" (2 Kings 5:1-2 NLT)