Istambay No More

Going out about nine o'clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and he said to them, 'You too go into my vineyard, and I will give you what is just.'… Matthew 20:3

I remembered this one. Yeah, this scene. They called us istambay. Night and day, I would stand by with my friends at the corner of our street just doing nothing. We chat at nothing important. We look at passersby. We spend countless hours just standing by.

I heard that same call. Yeah, Jesus' invitation to His vineyard. To have life in fullness with Him and dip my dirty hands into His holy work. I do not know what He has seen in me but I have seen everything in Him, having life with Him and the joy of serving Him alone gives me satisfaction and gladness that no amount of money can buy. So, I zealously followed Him and actively served Him for about more than ten years in charismatic movements and communities.

In the last quarter 2007, we went to start anew our family life in upstate New York. No charismatic community to serve with. We still have the heart to follow and serve but we did not have the channel to express it. I do not want to be labeled as istambay or idle again. And God gave us work….

Instead of preaching to other people, preach to your family. We have a regular Saturday night Bible sharing in our family of four.

Instead of caring for people in community, care for people who don't have family. My wife and daughters visit an elderly woman in a nursing home every week to cheer her up.

Instead of talking about God's work, write about it. I blog everything about God and His people.

Instead of vocally declaring God's message to people, be vocal in posting God's point in Facebook. Every day, I post a passage from the daily mass readings at my Facebook page to impact people.

Instead of exhorting about God's glory, express it through videos. I create videos for people to see and get fired up for God.

God saw and invited me. By His grace, I am a istambay no more.