Dig Deeper:
PACK LIGHTLY: This is the second chapter in a row in which Jesus sends out missionaries, and in both cases He instructs them to only take with them the clothes on their backs. This follows a very consistent pattern for Jesus. In ch. 5, He instructed Peter & Matthew to immediately walk away from their businesses and follow Him. Yesterday in ch. 9, He told the disciples to deny themselves, take up their cross and follow Him and then invited another man to drop what he was doing and follow Jesus. What do you have distracting you in your life that you need to get rid of to better follow Jesus?
HOLY SPIRIT WATCH: We've been keeping an eye out as we read through Luke for sightings of the Holy Spirit to see how active He was even prior to pentecost, and today we can add another instance to the list. In v21 we're told that the Holy Spirit filled Jesus with joy as the 72 returned from the mission field having seen success in telling others about the Kingdom of God.
WRONG QUESTION: The lawyer who questioned Jesus started off on the wrong foot by asking Jesus, "What must I do to inherit eternal life?" (v25). It shows how deeply rooted it is in our human nature to want to earn the things we're given. The entire message of the gospels, especially Luke, is that the Kingdom of God is coming. There is no need to earn admission. The only instructions in this gospel is to repent (from John the Baptist) and to have faith (from Jesus).
PERFECT ILLUSTRATION: The bickering sisters Mary & Martha explain what Jesus meant back in ch. 8:18 that "whoever has will be given more, but whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken away." When we DUG DEEPER, we saw that Jesus wasn't talking about possessions, rather He meant a person's spiritual knowledge. Martha gets distracted by all of the insignificant details of life, and gets a warning from Jesus (v41). Mary devoted all her energy to listening to what Jesus taught, and reiterating what He promised earlier, says that what Mary has chosen will not be taken away from her.
AAA Prayer Tips:
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Love the Lord your God with all of your heart and with all of your soul, and with all of your strength and with all of your mind (v27)
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Don't get sucked in by life's insignificant distractions (v40), follow Christ with all your heart, soul, strength and mind (v27)
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
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