Stepping in the Light

“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” Matthew 10:16

When Jesus sent His disciples out on their own for the first time, He gave them careful instructions as to where they were to go and what they were to do. He wanted them to preach a simple message, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” He gave them power to perform miracles, told them not to take provisions for their travels, and warned them that they would face persecution.

In the middle of His challenge to them, He admonished them to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. These two creatures are about as opposite as you could imagine, but Christ used each one as an example of a single characteristic that would be important as they followed Him. A snake doesn’t have arms, legs, or feet, but somehow is able to move about and stay alive. Sometimes, as we follow the Lord, it seems that we don’t have everything that some would deem necessary to succeed; but with His wisdom, we can find a way to serve the Lord effectively. Doves are graceful in their movements and harmless in their interactions with other creatures. Christians should be gentle people. We should be kind in our speech and compassionate in our nature. As we work to build these characteristics in our lives, we will find opportunities to serve others and strengthen our testimony as followers of Christ.

“But when he saw the multitudes, he was moved with compassion on them, because they fainted, and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd.” Matthew 9:36

We like to think of ourselves as being capable, resourceful, and self-sufficient. We tend to believe that we can make our own way in life, and that if we work hard enough we can accomplish anything we set our minds to. The way that God sees us is quite different from that. When Jesus saw the multitudes, He saw them as sheep. Sheep are helpless animals. They don’t know how to defend themselves. They need someone to help them find food and water. They need someone to provide shelter from the elements, a place for them to sleep at night, and protection from predators. They need someone to shear their wool and look after their general health. They need a shepherd.

When Jesus sees us, He sees our need of a shepherd. We need sustenance, protection, and guidance. He is the Great Shepherd, and He wants to provide for us. He knows that we need Him, but He allows us to choose how closely we follow Him. Of course, the first step is to accept Him as Saviour. After we are saved, He promises to give us everlasting life. A guarantee of living in heaven forever provides a complete assurance, and that assurance can lead to self-sufficiency. We must remember that after we are saved, we are still sheep. We still need our Shepherd. We need Him for everything. We must constantly look to Him as our Great Shepherd.

“And it came to pass, as Jesus sat at meat in the house, behold, many publicans and sinners came and sat down with him and his disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said unto his disciples, Why eateth your Master with publicans and sinners? But when Jesus heard that, he said unto them, They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. But go ye and learn what that meaneth, I will have mercy, and not sacrifice: for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” Matthew 9:10-13

Self-righteousness, in its essence, is thinly veiled pride; and it separates us from God. In their efforts to please God and live holy lives, the Pharisees lost their focus on the original object of their affections and began to be enamored with their own goodness. They had been right in wanting to please God, but they were wrong in trying to impress everyone else with how well they were doing at it.

When the Pharisees came to Jesus, they were skeptical about Who He claimed to be and the validity of the miracles which He performed. Jesus did not fit into their private universe of godliness. He healed people on the Sabbath day, a day in which no manner of work was to be performed. Now they saw Him spending time with publicans and sinners, people that they would never associate with. They were convinced of their own goodness. They did not need any help, and that attitude was precisely what separated them from Jesus.

“And he saith unto them, Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith? Then he arose, and rebuked the winds and the sea; and there was a great calm. But the men marvelled, saying, What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:26-27

Jesus was with His disciples in a boat on the sea. A terrible storm arose and the waves came crashing in and filled the boat with water. All the while, Jesus was asleep. The disciples awakened Jesus and said, “Lord, save us!” These experienced seamen had done all they knew to do, but the boat was still sinking. As a last ditch effort, they hoped that Jesus could do something to save them. However, when Jesus awoke, He expressed a bit of frustration with them. “Why are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?” Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea became calm. The disciples were amazed that Jesus could do such a thing. Their reaction to this miracle helps us to see where their faith was lacking. If they really believed that Jesus was the Messiah, then they should have understood that it would be impossible for the boat to sink while Jesus was on board. They would not have even needed to wake Him up.

Like the disciples, our faith is often weak. We have an incomplete understanding of Who God is and what He is able to do. What God wants from us more than anything else is faith. Are you willing to exercise complete faith in Him? It is impossible for Him to fail. He will see you through!

“And Jacob said, Swear to me this day; and he sware unto him: and he sold his birthright unto Jacob. Then Jacob gave Esau bread and pottage of lentiles; and he did eat and drink, and rose up, and went his way: thus Esau despised his birthright.” Genesis 25:33-34

Esau traded his birthright for a bowl of soup. There was undoubtedly a great deal of spiritual significance to the birthright, but in a practical sense, it was a matter of an additional share of the inheritance (see Genesis 48:22). Jacob and Esau’s father, Isaac, was extremely wealthy. It is difficult to bring biblical monetary values into our present day currency, but let’s assume for a moment that the total value of Isaac’s possessions was three million dollars. Isaac had two sons, Jacob and Esau. In order to give one of them a double portion of the inheritance, he would need to divide everything he owned into three portions. Esau was the oldest, so by our assumed values he stood to receive two million dollars, and Jacob stood to receive only one. Jacob probably had thought about that one million dollars many times, and when he saw his brother was desperate, he took advantage of the situation. Jacob proposed a deal; the soup for the birthright (an even trade), and Esau took the deal. One million dollars for a bowl of soup! This may have been the worst deal in history! This story begs the question, what is it in our lives that we have undervalued? May God help us never to trade away so much for so little!

“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8

Ask, seek, and knock. These are simple and straightforward instructions. The Greek text here gives the sense of continual action. Ask and keep on asking. Seek and keep on seeking. Knock and keep on knocking. As you continue to ask, you will eventually receive. As you continue to seek, you will eventually find. As you continue to knock, it will eventually be opened to you. God wants us to be persistent in our quest to know Him, to follow His will, and to experience the fullness of the abundant life He wants us to know.

Perhaps we can also see an element of resourcefulness. When you have a need, begin by asking. If that doesn’t work, go looking. If your search brings you to a closed door, start knocking. We have a tendency to give up too easily. Are there things that you have prayed for but have not received? Are you still praying for them? For each of those unanswered prayers, is there a trail along which you have actively and tirelessly sought for the answer? If so, are you still seeking? Is it time to widen your search area? As you have prayed and sought for the answer, have you encountered closed doors that make it seem impossible for God to come through? Did you knock? Are you still knocking? Persistence is often the key to answered prayer.

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.” Matthew 6:19-21

It is often said that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. What one person would cast aside as useless, another would see great value in. The verb form of the word treasure could be simply defined: to value. Based on Christ’s teaching here, if you will show me what you value, what you treasure, then I will show you your heart.

Jesus said to lay up treasures in heaven. Our heart should be in heaven, not on earth. The things that we value should be heavenly things. He is not speaking here of pearly gates or streets of gold. He is speaking of finding out what is valuable to God and making it valuable to ourselves. Ultimately, we get to decide what is valuable to us. We decide what we treasure.

God treasures the souls of men and women. He treasures a pure heart. He treasures deeds of kindness. He treasures the truth of His Word. He treasures the love and devotion of His children. Are these things important to you? You can lay up treasure in heaven by telling others about Jesus Christ, by reading God’s Word, by spending time in prayer, by speaking words of kindness, and by helping those in need.

“Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.” Matthew 6:8

When you pray, what are you thinking? Do you think that God hears you? Do you think that He is listening? Do you think that He cares about you? When we think about prayer, we tend to think of what we could potentially get out of prayer. We need something, so we ask God for it in hopes that we might receive it. Our focus tends to be on what we stand to gain. As Jesus taught His disciples about prayer in Matthew 6, one of the truths that He emphasized was pertaining to our attitude as we approach God. We are to think of God as our Father. We are to envision Him in heaven. We are to approach His throne with reverence and to honor His name. We are to pray for the advancement of His kingdom and for His will to be done. Then we may ask for our needs to be met. When we take the time to follow this process, we develop a deeper understanding of the power of God and the true meaning of our relationship with Him. Jesus prefaced these instructions by letting us know that God already knows what we need. He knows. We don’t go to prayer because God needs to be informed of our situation. He knows. That means that He does care. He does love us. He does hear us. He does want to meet our needs. This one thought has the potential to transform our attitude toward prayer. We must realize that if God already knows what we need, then prayer is more about a relationship with God than it is about receiving.

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. Matthew 5:43-45

Love your enemies. We have heard this admonition time and time again. It is so easy to say, but it often seems so hard to do. These three little words that we teach to young children in Sunday school constitute an enormous challenge for grownups. They are usually heard without the rest of the sentence that Jesus spoke as He gave them. He continued to further define what it means to love your enemies, and then He gave a reason for this instruction. “…That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven….” We are to follow the example of our Heavenly Father. He makes the sun shine on those who hate Him just like it does on those who love Him. He sends rain and gives sustenance to the ones who despise Him just like he does for those who honor and serve Him.

How can you become more like God? When someone says something unkind about you, say something nice about them. Do a good deed for someone who openly hates you. Pray most for those who like you least. Love your enemies.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” Matthew 5:6

Being blessed by God and receiving blessings from Him is something that Christians often take for granted. If you were to make a list of God’s blessings on your life, what would you include? Which blessings would come to mind first as you worked on your list? If you came back to prioritize your list, which ones would you place near the top?

For many of us, certain material blessings that God has given to us would be the first that we would think of, and some of those blessings would remain near the top of our list, even after we began to place our blessings in the order of their importance to us. Jesus certainly looked at life differently. He taught us in the text above that it was a blessing to have a desire to be righteous. And what is the reason that this desire for righteousness is a blessing? “…For they shall be filled.” In other words, those who desire to be righteous will be righteous, and being righteous is a blessing in and of itself.

Some foods are certainly more desirable than others. Dietitians encourage us to eat plenty of vegetables. If we find that vegetables are not very appealing, we can begin to develop a taste for them by including them in our diets.

Do you have a hunger for spiritual things? Jesus said that we need to work to develop a hunger and thirst for righteousness. We can do this by spending time in His Word.