December 26, 2018
Please use the comment section on this page to share insights from today’s reading OR your own personal Bible reading.
Reading along with us in Luke for five days? Here’s today’s reading:
Luke 6 (ESV)
On a Sabbath, while he was going through the grainfields, his disciples plucked and ate some heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. 2 But some of the Pharisees said, “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath?”3 And Jesus answered them, “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him: 4 how he entered the house of God and took and ate the bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and also gave it to those with him?” 5 And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of the Sabbath.”....Continue Reading
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Luke 6:12 (ESV)
In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.
Before selecting the twelve apostles out of a large number of disciples Jesus spends the night in prayer. Again the Son of Man demonstrates the importance of prayer in relation to decision making. This is a good challenge for me this coming year. Lord, please help me to remain committed not only to the study of holy scripture but also to seek your face.
Jesus teaches a life focused not on self rather God and others
36Be merciful, even as your Father is merciful.❤️
As I said a few months ago, Jesus was such a radical, caring not about social convention or the opinion of others, but pressing the truth of God into every situation he found himself in. Just think of the boldness and the offense that would come to the Jews when Jesus called Himself the Lord of the Sabbath. He makes the rules. He determines what is allowed and not. We do not push law to the extent that it keeps us from doing good and addressing human need, even if at times it is our own need, like hunger. He also turns the tables on life. The poor receive the kingdom. The hungry are satisfied. Those who cry will laugh. Oh and you are to love your enemies and do good to them. God’s economy is upside down in reference to how His will works both in the provisions it brings and the standards we live by.
And how important it is for us to address our own issues before we address the issues of others. Think about how radically that changes human interaction and communication. Think about how upside down that is from our natural compulsion. Think about how often we don’t do that….we think more about how we have been wronged than how we have wronged another or how we have contributed to the bad situation we find ourselves in.
But following Jesus words has benefit. we will bear good fruit that God can honor, and our lives will weather the storms that are sure to come in this broken and fallen world.
45The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.