At Joppa there was a certain disciple named Tabitha, which is translated Dorcas. This woman was full of good works and charitable deeds which she did. But it happened in those days that she became sick and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in an upper room. And since Lydda was near Joppa, and the disciples had heard that Peter was there, they sent two men to him, imploring him not to delay in coming to them. Then Peter arose and went with them. When he had come, they brought him to the upper room. And all the widows stood by him weeping, showing the tunics and garments which Dorcas had made while she was with them. But Peter put them all out, and knelt down and prayed. And turning to the body he said, “Tabitha, arise.” And she opened her eyes, and when she saw Peter she sat up.
Memory Verse: Give, and it will be given to you: good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over will be put into your bosom. For with the same measure that you use, it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:38
It’s pretty impressive how many charitable organizations are out there in today’s world doing their very best to support people in every way possible. Many have changed lives and even more interestingly most of those charities are not located in the country in which they offer support and outreaches, now that is what I call selflessness. When you tune your TV to some channels or see flyers on social media, what you often see is charity adverts saying “Save a child in Africa” and when you do a little research on those, you find out that the organizations behind those flyers are not even in Africa. They have extended their acts above and beyond their country of residence because in the end, goodness is not restricted by location.
In today’s bible reading we see the life of a woman who was good in every way. The bible refers to her as “full of good works“. She not only had a good mind, she showed it outwardly to people in her environment and there was physical evidence that she dedicated her life to helping others. A very interesting fact about Dorcas also known as Tabitha’s life was that she was also a disciple which means she was a follower of Christ, a child of God. She understood God’s commandment and dedicated her life to living and doing it.
Another interesting fact the reaction of the widows when Tabitha died. She didn’t just pass on but was ill and when she eventually died, the scripture laid emphasis on the fact that all the widows in a community were out weeping and showing evidence of how she had made impacts on their lives. In other words, Dorcas made it her business to mind other people’s business.
There was a lot of people dependent on Dorcas and her death created a void in their hearts immediately. The bible made mention of other believers like Tabitha who knew of her good works and they sent for Peter because they wanted Tabitha back alive. Who else will do what she did for them? To them, no other person was evident.
The charity that Tabitha did brought her back to life and being alive is our most precious gift from God. While she was out doing good to others, she did not know she was saving towards her resurrection from death. God gave her a second opportunity to live and continue doing good. The story of Tabitha and that of Elijah and the Shunamite woman according to 2 Kings 4 shares a lot of similarities . She benefited abundantly from being good.
How then can we be called Christians without good works? The word of God is very crystal and Christianity is love centered with God expecting us to just focus on those. You are not expected to focus on anything else than love. Tabitha knew this as a disciple and focused on that which truly mattered, keeping God’s commandment.
Nothing opens doors better than goodness. It may not seem so as Tabitha may not have received anything in return whiles she was alive but our giving to the poor should not be with an expectation of getting things back in return. When you do good, you are doing it in obedience to the word of God and God who rewards obedience will reward you in the best way possible.
What is your barrier to doing good? Tabitha was not introduced to us as a wealthy woman and she wasn’t said to have been giving from the abundance she had. You also can start to make impact in the lives of those you meet.
PRAYERS:
- Father I thank you for your wonderfulness in this month and the second half of the year.
- I decree in your authority Lord that the glory of this second half will be greater than the first half for me, my family, friends and loved ones in Jesus name.
- Father I receive the grace and resources to keep doing good and positively impact the lives of those around me.
- Forgive me of all my shortcomings O Lord and let your mercy prevail over judgement
- Thank you Lord for answers to prayers, in Jesus name I pray, Amen.
