Thursday, June 30

Matthew 9:38

“Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Reflection

When Jesus saw the shortage of people to share the message of God’s kingdom with the people of the world, he responded by asking for people to pray for God to raise up workers who could spread that message.  Jesus truly had compassion on those who needed his message and he prayed for his Father to raise up more workers.

Does our compassion on those who need the message of Jesus cause us to pray that God would send more people into the world to share the message of Jesus?

Wednesday, June 29

Matthew 9:37

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.

Reflection

Jesus recognized that many people needed to hear the proclamation of the new thing that God was doing through him.  Jesus had compassion on the people and he wanted them to know the truth that he brought into the world.  However, Jesus recognized this critical fact: There was a great shortage of the number of people who were capable or who were willing to share that good news.  I am sure that seeing so many people who needed the truth, and knowing that there were so few people to communicate that message to others, made Jesus very sad.

When we see the number of people who need Jesus and the lack of people to share Jesus with them, does that activate compassion and sadness within us?  If it does, how should we respond?

Tuesday, June 28

Matthew 9:36

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.

Reflection

Jesus looked upon the people that he was ministering to and he had compassion upon them because they didn’t possess a direction in life.  In other words, they didn’t know what was true; they were distracted and pulled here and there by various teachings and beliefs.  Because of the condition of the people, Jesus had compassion upon them.  He wanted them to know the truth.  He wanted them to know that he was the source of all truth and that truth would lead them to life.  Jesus wanted the people to be guided to God’s truth.

Do we have a deep compassion for others who do not know the truth?  How do we express that compassion for others who do not know the truth of Jesus?

Monday, June 27

Matthew 9:35

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.

Reflection

It is a fact that Jesus did not stay to himself.  Jesus came for the world so he engaged the world.  How did he do that?  The scripture tells us that Jesus visited numerous towns and villages.  We also learn that Jesus went to centers of Jewish worship and teaching called synagogues.  We know as we read the gospels that Jesus spoke, read scripture and taught in those synagogues.  Jesus did all of these things to take the opportunity to spread the message of the kingdom of God.  In order to prove he had the authority to preach and proclaim these things he also performed miracles of healing.

Do you think that the church, the Christian community of today is as focused on spreading the message of the kingdom of God as Jesus was?  If not, should we be?  If we are as focused on proclaiming the message of God’s kingdom as Jesus, then think about some examples and illustrations that support that belief.

June 26 - July 2

Out of Compassion

Matthew 9:35-38

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.  Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few.  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into the harvest field.

The main task of the church is to be the vehicle by which the message and the reality of the person of Jesus Christ is made real and presented to the world.  There are many reasons why the church should be taking the good news of Jesus into the world.  The main reason is Jesus’ command as recorded in Matthew 28:18-20 “Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.  Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.  And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Jesus has commanded us to take his message to the world.

However, there are many various motivations for why we should take Jesus to the world.  One of those motivations is compassion.  We need to have compassion on those who are living outside the love and grace of Jesus.  This week we will be considering this motivating factor of sharing the gospel out of compassion for others.

Saturday, June 25

Ephesians 2:8-9

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast.  For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Reflection

Jesus came into the world to save the sinner and not the righteous.  The righteous would have had no need to be saved.  However, no matter how many people try to convince themselves, otherwise, there are no truly righteous people.  It is only through Jesus’ love and forgiveness that we are saved. 

So we should never make the mistake of boasting of our good works and our good deeds.  All of that is like filthy rags before the Lord.  What we should take pride in is that God loved us enough to save us through the death and resurrection of his Son, Jesus. 

Spend today giving thanks that Jesus did not come for the righteous but came to save sinners.  Give thanks for that truth because we are all sinners. None of us are righteous outside of the grace of Jesus.

Friday, June 24

Romans 3:22b-24

There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Jesus Christ.

Reflection

We have all sinned and fall short of the glory of God.  That by itself is not good news.  That means that we are guilty of turning away from God and the penalty for sin is death and eternal separation from God.  However, our sin is not the end of the story.  God sent his Son, Jesus into the world to bring us the message of grace and forgiveness and he provided that grace and forgiveness by paying the penalty for our sin by taking our punishment on the cross.  Then we are given the opportunity to accept in faith that Jesus has done this for us, and then we are forgiven and we receive Christ’s righteousness in our lives.

You and I are justified, made right, not by what we have done but by what Christ has done for us.  Live today giving thanks for that truth.