Wednesday 21 October 2015
Matthew 10:32-42 – Where’s our priority?
Christian life seems to be very paradoxical.
The demands Jesus made in this passage are not for the fainthearted. If we care
to be honest, we must admit that it seems very different from what we would
expect from the Lord. What does He mean by bringing a sword and not peace? Did
He come to bring division within our household? Christ Jesus has no intention was
not to bring disruption to our lives. But if we are to follow Him, these things
are bound to happen.
And then what does He mean that we
must love Him more than our dearest earthly kin, yes even our own life? More
than we care to admit, we are all more accustomed to comfort than to
challenges. What Jesus is doing here, is challenging us with some of His very
hard and uncomfortable words. Our Lord is merely reiterating what He had called
for earlier in His Sermon on the Mount. He wants us to make it our priority to
put Him first in our life. He is in fact calling for our total commitment to
Him. Taking up the cross, denying our self, in order that we might gain Christ
are all part and parcel of discipleship. But this is a major paradox in a
disciple’s life that we need to embrace in life. If are to gain Christ we must lose
our life for His sake.
All these tough challenges of Jesus
are matched by the remarkable promises that He also makes in this passage. He promises
that when we receive Him we will be received by the Father, Who had sent Him. And
the reward for accepting Him as God-sent, is greater than what we can perceive now.
Any service of l0ve we show to the least of the brethren because of our love
for Him, is in effect a service to Him.
When we give a cup of water to the needy we are serving the Lord. And
whatever we do for Him we are not just doing it to Him but also to God, Who had
sent Him.
Think of it this way, we realign
our lives to meet the challenges, act on them humbly for His sake, we will take
our faith in Him to yet another level. Then we will surely impact our society
far more than we can think and imagine.
And then what does He mean that we
must love Him more than our dearest earthly kin, yes even our own life? More
than we care to admit, we are all more accustomed to comfort than to
challenges. What Jesus is doing here, is challenging us with some of His very
hard and uncomfortable words. Our Lord is merely reiterating what He had called
for earlier in His Sermon on the Mount. He wants us to make it our priority to
put Him first in our life. He is in fact calling for our total commitment to
Him. Taking up the cross, denying our self, in order that we might gain Christ
are all part and parcel of discipleship. But this is a major paradox in a
disciple’s life that we need to embrace in life. If are to gain Christ we must lose
our life for His sake.
All these tough challenges of Jesus
are matched by the remarkable promises that He also makes in this passage. He promises
that when we receive Him we will be received by the Father, Who had sent Him. And
the reward for accepting Him as God-sent, is greater than what we can perceive now.
Any service of l0ve we show to the least of the brethren because of our love
for Him, is in effect a service to Him.
When we give a cup of water to the needy we are serving the Lord. And
whatever we do for Him we are not just doing it to Him but also to God, Who had
sent Him.
Think of it this way, we realign
our lives to meet the challenges, act on them humbly for His sake, we will take
our faith in Him to yet another level. Then we will surely impact our society
far more than we can think and imagine.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment