Daily Reading: Matthew 10
Scripture Focus: Behold, I am sending you out... (Matthew 10.16)
Devotional Thought: Many years ago, there was a popular song by the Lanny Wolfe Trio that included the lines, "My house is full, but my field is empty... It seems my children all want to stay around my table. But, no one wants to work in my fields." That song has stuck with me. And, it is needed more today than it was then.
God has always had a work for his children. Adam was placed in a garden of life and beauty, but God also called him to tend to his creation. Noah and his family were saved from the flood waters. But, God gave Noah the assignment of building the ark of salvation. Abraham was to be blessed by God, who then gave Abraham the work of being a blessing to the nations.
The Bible is a story of God partnering with people to accomplish his purposes. So, when Jesus sent out his disciples in Matthew 10, he was simply continuing this long-established pattern. Do you think that God's methods have changed? Does he not still call people and send them out to do the work of the Kingdom? Should you be surprised that God's call and sending includes you? Are we to think that serving God is only about going to church on Sunday, and getting our spiritual appetites fed and our spiritual fancies tickled?
Before he sent the disciples out, the Bible says that Jesus called them to him (Matthew 10.1). Each week, God calls us to him for worship, for inspiration, for encouragement - but also for instruction. We receive our 'marching orders' and are to go out with a mission - to let the world know of God's great love. Where is God sending you?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for blessing me. But, help me to go from being blessed to being a blessing. May I not be simply a consumer, but also a conveyor of your great grace. Amen.
Psalm of the Day: Psalm 89.27-39
27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. 29 I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. 30 If his children forsake my law and do not walk according to my rules, 31 if they violate my statutes and do not keep my commandments, 32 then I will punish their transgression with the rod and their iniquity with stripes, 33 but I will not remove from him my steadfast love or be false to my faithfulness. 34 I will not violate my covenant or alter the word that went forth from my lips. 35 Once for all I have sworn by my holiness; I will not lie to David. 36 His offspring shall endure forever, his throne as long as the sun before me. 37 Like the moon it shall be established forever, a faithful witness in the skies.” Selah
38 But now you have cast off and rejected; you are full of wrath against your anointed. 39 You have renounced the covenant with your servant; you have defiled his crown in the dust.
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