Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
TO PONDER
When my kids receive an invitation to a party they are so excited! It’s the first thing they want to tell me about when I pick them up from school and it is quickly retrieved from their bag and given pride of place on the fridge. They then spend the next days or weeks asking how many sleeps until the party, when we will buy the present and what they need to wear. Finally, the day of the party arrives! This is filled with questions of how long until I need to get ready? When will we leave? How long will it take to get there? The kids have received an invitation and they are excited to attend! This is the same excitement we hear in this passage. The people heard the message of Jesus and were so excited they wanted to ‘join the party’ and be baptised into his family. For many of us our baptisms happened when we were very young, but we still receive the exciting invitation to partner with Jesus in His life changing work each day! May we be as excited to receive the invitation and join the party!
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank you for inviting me into your family and your kingdom, through your son Jesus. Help me to live each day full of excitement for the things that you have in store for me to do to help invite and welcome others into your family too. Amen
Todays devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay youth and family ministry Co-ordinator.
"Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labour.”
TO PONDER
Picture a relay race; 4 team-mates each with their leg to run. When setting up a relay order, much time is spent deciding who will run which leg. Each runner has their own skills and strengths and these are taken into consideration. They all take their marks at their respective spots around the running track. Each must run their leg to the best of their ability, they must all contribute. However, only one member of the team runs across the finish line. Does that mean the whole team does not win, of course not. Without the 3 who have gone before, running their race, the final leg cannot cross the finish line. In our journey of following Jesus we perform each role. We may be the starter, beginning a work for God that others will continue and one day reap a harvest in, or those who perform the tasks in the middle of the journey. We may also be those who reap and experience a great harvest! In each of these times we can always remember and thank God for those who have gone before us and pray for those who will come after.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, I thank you for those who have been part of leading me into your family. I ask that you would also help me to faithfully play my part in helping others find their salvation in your son Jesus. I pray also for those who will come after me in the faith, that they may also find their strength and purpose in you and boldly proclaim your glory and salvation throughout the world. Amen
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Youth and Family Co-ordinator
He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.
TO PONDER
One of the consequences of the Covid pandemic and the resulting lockdowns and travel restrictions has been the inability for people to travel to Australia from overseas to work. This has been especially hard for many of our primary producers, who rely on temporary workers to pick and harvest their fruit and crops. A harvest that remains on the tree or vine is a symbol of lost opportunity and unfulfilled promise. In Luke, Jesus tells His disciples that the harvest is great, but the workers are few. Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, wants to see all people living in the promises of His salvation, and He reminds His disciples that they will only hear and understand the truth if it is shared. This is true today, we live in a world that is in great need of a Savior and the unconditional love and joy and hope and peace He brings. We are God’s workers, commissioned with the task of sharing what we have and know. But we don’t go about this task alone, we are sent by the Lord of the harvest, who goes with us!
PRAYER
Jesus, Lord of the Harvest, thanks you that you have called me into your kingdom. Please prepare and equip me to to work along side you in your harvest field this week. Amen\
Today's devotion written by Elise von Stanke, LifeWay Youth and Family Ministry Co-ordinator
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
TO PONDER
So here's an insight from my previous career as a teacher that echoes the same message of Jesus in todays reading. "You can't be your children's best friend and their parent." There it is, I have said it. You may not agree with me and that's fine, but let me explain.
I can not tell you the number of parent teacher interviews I have had with parents who ask me, as their child's teacher, what they should do to curb their child's unruly behaviour. When you ask the inevitable followup question, 'what have you already tried?' The response is usually nothing that resembles any kind of discipline. These parents are usually more concerned with having their children, 'like them' and so enforcing rules or discipline is usually not a high priority because - you might have already guessed - kids don't usually like discipline. Now to be fair - this is a massive over generalisation and there are certainly often more factors involved in children's behaviour than just parenting style but from my experience, parents who seem to have the best long term relationships with their children are those who prioritise their role as parents, not as their child's best friends.
Jesus is essentially saying the same thing here. You cannot be an effective disciple of his if you are also devoted to something else. If that's how it is, one will always win out over the other. The more devoted we become to Jesus, the more we will grow to despise our sin, selfishness, greed and envy of others. However, the more we live for money, fame, power or recognition and the like, the more we will come to resent Jesus and what he asks of us.
So where does your real allegiance lie?
PRAYER
Jesus, you have given so much for me and given so much to me. Please re-order the desires of my heart that I might long to follow and serve you above all else. Remind me each day, as I encounter the cost of following you, that you have secured for me a reward greater than any cost, eternal life with you. Amen
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
TO PONDER
Ouch! This is where the idea of surrender or submission can really start to hurt. It's one thing to surrender to Jesus and submit to him and his authority. After all, all power and authority has been given to him (Matt 28:18). But what does it mean to submit to one another?
This is, I think, one of the areas our world of social media has totally undermined the principle of submitting to one another. We now live in a world where every opinion has to be valued and acknowledged as valid, unless of course your opinion differs to mine... then it's fine for me to assert my moral superiority or my openness and acceptance of others over you. This breads an 'us and them' kind of attitude. What Paul is saying here is that there is only 'us', we are all in this together.
History has shown that even God's own people can't agree on everything. There are undoubtedly, things and difference between churches and denominations that are worth distinguishing and keeping seperate, but it would be naive to think that any one of us has the complete truth and has nothing to learn from the others. the Apostle Paul is inviting us to recognise that we are all simply doing our best to be followers of Christ. Even most of those who do not yet know Jesus, are looking for the best way to make sense of their lives and to live life to the fullest. No matter how misguided their attempts at life might be, no matter how our theology may differ, we are to think of others as fellow travellers on the same road.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, it is often easy to think of myself as better than others. Our world encourages us to make comparisons all the time. I ask that you would help me see others the way you see them, as your beloved brothers and sisters, or perhaps as lost but dearly loved sheep. Give me a heart that is prepared to love and serve others the way you have loved and served me. Amen
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you"
TO PONDER
It's easy to follow instructions and submit to authority when the directives we are given make sense, isn't it?
I remember as a younger lad, having a Meccano set. For the uninitiated, it was a bit like Technic Lego but rather than using interconnecting bricks, it used various pre-cut and drilled lengths of steel and nuts and bolts, together with an electric motor to allow you to make different machines with moving parts. It was one of my favourite toys to get out during the school holidays. However, it also taught me something important about following instructions. There were, from time to time, steps in the building instructions which I failed to see the importance of so I would sometime skip them or modify them to 'make things easier' or to 'make them better'. Unfortunately it was often quite a few steps further down the track that I came to realise that the changes I had made to 'make things easier' had completely messed up and complicated something further on.
Jesus' command to love our enemies and to pray for those who hurt or persecute us can sometimes feel like one of those instructions that's just too hard or that, at the time, makes no sense. The problem is that Jesus knows the long term consequences for failing to follow those instructions. He gives us this instruction so we can avoid bigger issues down the track like bitterness and resentment. Loving our enemies and and praying for them changes us and keeps the open the pathway for our enemies to also encounter the love of Jesus. That, after all, is the ultimate goal.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, Sometimes living as your disciple is hard work, especially when it comes to loving and caring for those who hurt us or make our lives difficult. Jesus, when I feel like that, remind me of what you went through for me and give me the strength and courage to do the hard work of forgiveness and mercy so that your love might be seen through my life. Amen
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
TO PONDER
I remember living with a housemate during my time at university who decided to join the Army Reserves. I recall one particular afternoon, he came home after a day of 'riot training'. We had a few friends over for dinner that night and we were interested to understand more of what this training had entailed and under what circumstances it might be useful.
He agreed to a demonstration and our friends volunteered their services as an impromptu 'angry mob'. Unfortunately the demonstration did not go so well. My reservist housemate fell quickly to the unorthodox and relentless assault of this angry mob of two! While trying to resist the relentless attack of wildly flailing arms, my housemate protested in panic, "No, Wait! That's not how a crowd attacks you!" to which our friends replied, "How on earth do you know how an angry mob is going to come at you?!"
One of the biggest weaknesses of the devil is that he does not expect resistance and unfortunately, all too often we do not provide any. Truely submitting to God and his laws and decrees, means sticking to them even when they are perhaps not the easiest path to take. It means providing some resistance when the enemy puts a challenge in your path. Luckily for us, the devil's obstacles, like my Army Reservist housemate, don't stand up too well when we submit to God's authority and follow his ways. When we do this, God clears the path ahead of us like an angry mob with wildly flailing arms, overcoming the enemy and causing him to flee!
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, Jesus said that I should pray, "Lead me not into temptation and deliver me from evil". So I pray that you would help me to submit to your will and your authority and that you would remind me to call on you when I need to resist the temptations and the hurdles that the evil one puts in front of me. Amen
"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
TO PONDER
These days new don't tend to ask about sin very much. No one really wants to deal with those things about themselves that they would rather just ignore. But understanding the significance of our sin is an important part of understanding today's reading. The reality of our sin is a burden that none of us is actually able to bear. It is why we convince ourselves that we are actually doing ok simply because we might not be as bas as someone else. We need to constantly be reminded that even a hint of sin destroys our relationship with God and condemns us to death.
In that light, why would you not take Jesus up on his offer. You no longer need to carry the burden of your sin, Jesus has taken that on himself. However, he does ask that, having been freed from that burden, that we would faithfully get to work following him and tending to the tasks which he places in front of us.
What is Jesus asking you to do today?
PRAYER
Jesus, when following you seems like a drag or a burden, help me to remember the burden of my sin which you have graciously and lovingly taken from me. Amen
Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
TO PONDER
Alexander Hamilton, the title character of the hit Broadway musical and one of the heroes of the American Revolutionary War, once famously said, "if you don't stand for something, you will fall for anything". There is a certain truth to this phrase. It seems that as humans, we are determined to submit or perhaps more positively, commit ourselves to something. It might be a charitable cause, it could be our families, our employment, our health and physical appearance. It can just as easily be drugs and alcohol, sexual conquests, or chasing a big win on the pokies. It seems we are destined to serve something or someone, the only choice we have is what that someone or something is.
Jesus invites us to surrender ourselves to him and to his righteousness. When we do this, all the things of this world which have tried to lay a claim over us are put back in their rightful place, under the authority and lordship of Jesus. Although it takes submitting to him, it is the only way to experience true freedom.
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, you are the only true source of life and love. Please help me to submit daily to picking up my cross and following you. Help me to live a life that helps others to see the freedom that comes from following you. Amen