| Numbers 30:1-31:54; Luke 4:1-30; Psalm 63:1-11; Proverbs 11:20-21
“The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set free the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19)
Jesus told those gathered at the synagogue that this scripture had been fulfilled as He was reading. We can practically visualize the expressions on their faces as they asked: “Isn’t this Joseph’s son?” He then went on to say some things that the “church folk” felt were pretty inflammatory. You notice how everyone was nice to Him up to this point, then when He got them to thinking about things outside of their compact religious box mentality things really got stirred up, so much so that they drove Jesus out of church and were planning on throwing Him over a cliff, WOW! See, the Jews had a tendency to believe that God was for them only, when in actuality they were His special people that were to be a light to the rest of the world, to draw others to the Lord. Always remember Jesus’ mission statement, especially when it comes to religious preferences and mindsets.
Ever hear the story about the lady that cut off both ends of the roast before cooking. One day her children asked her why she cut them off and she said that she learned it from her mother. While talking to her mother, she asked why she always cut the ends off of the roast and the mother replied, because that’s how my mother did it. That day the young mother called her grandmother specifically to ask about the roast. The grandmother laughed and said that she never had a pot large enough for the whole roast to fit in. So, the tradition that was passed down was born from necessity which was no longer – necessary. A lot of times in church we have things passed down that were important fifty years ago but are no longer valid today. We cling to these religious ideas and miss the whole point of the church – to preach the good news, to set the captives free, to heal and deliver…we sometimes get offended when God goes outside of our doors and heals a drug addict or uses a former prostitute to share His love, when others use progressive ideas to minister instead of the “way it’s supposed to be done.” The kingdom of God is so much more than us four and no more. Jesus ministered to the Jews but showed in Luke 4 that God’s love and mercy extended further than just them. “But He’s our God,” no; He’s OUR God, all of ours. For God so loved the world…
PRAYER:
God, forgive me for holding onto religious mindsets that keep me bound up in superiority and hatred. Show me how to discern what is from You and what is just man-made or outdated. Help me to know that You love Muslims and long to see them saved, You love the mean alcoholic and want him delivered, You love the struggling homosexual and You love me with my narrow mind and sharp tongue. When You put your finger on a sensitive area of my life, I don’t want to be angry with You, I want to understand and change. Please forgive my shortcomings and make me all that You have designed me to be, let’s change the world for Your glory Lord, me and You, amen. |
