Category: Bible Bite

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”  He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”  And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”  And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” Luke 10:25-28 [ESV]

Some see this passage as a formal commendation of the way of works. If you want a way of salvation by doing works, this is it (with the implication that you won’t be able to do it). It is more likely that it is a word against faith-by-works. It is not what we do, considered as a work that counts toward merit, that matters, but our attitude. If we really love God in the way of which Jesus speaks, then we rely on him, not ourselves. This kind of love is our response to God’s love for us, not the cause of his acceptance of us. Jesus is not commending a new system of legalism different from the old one, but pointing to the end of all legalism. The lawyer wanted a rule or a set of rules that he could keep and so ‘merit ‘deserve’ eternal life. Jesus is telling him that eternal life is not a matter of keeping rules at all. To live in love is to live the life of the Kingdom of God. When we recognize the importance of the realm of the soul and spirit; if that area is sound, our whole person is well. Our attitude towards God determines the rest. If we really love Him, we love our neighbor too.

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

1 John 4:20

Luke 10:5-7 [NKJV]
But whatever house you enter, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest on it; if not, it will return to you. And remain in the same house, eating and drinking such things as they give, for the laborer is worthy of his wages. Do not go from house to house.

As I was continuing to read this passage on ‘sending out the 70’ today, I was intrigued by verse 5 and 6 which talk about saying a blessing of peace upon a house you enter, but if that piece is not received by the owner, it will return to you.

I really like what this has to say by our good God. Essentially, God’s gifts are not magic; they must be something that is ‘received’. In this case the disciples did not have to take ownership of a blessing not being received. In the same way, we can go out and give our testimony, and when it is not received, we don’t have to see that as a failure on our part to communicate. Does that absolve us of the responsibility of being prepared before we go? No, but when we in faithfulness to God have obeyed Him by sharing His good news with others, we don’t have to own the decision by the receiver not to take or hear it.

Luke 10:3 [NKJV]
Go your way; behold, I send you out as lambs among wolves.

Tonight was a great walk along the beach in Balboa. It was a wonderful time of conversation with Marianne’s sister Jonna and her husband Karl and time of reconnecting about families and the growth of our kids.

As we’ve been here in CA there have been so many of the world’s pressures not only thrown on our kids, but us too. This time today in verse 3 of the sending out by Jesus of the 70 to missions hit home. We truly are lambs among wolves as we try to follow our Lord and Savior; being an apparatus to build Gods Kingdom.

Today my reading in Luke 9:57-62 was all about the 3 men that either asked to follow Jesus or were asked by Jesus to follow Him. In each instance there was an earthly mindset applied the ‘drop it and go’ mindset Jesus was looking for. At the end of the day, the Kingdom of God waits for no one. God is building His Kingdom right now…am I a part of that building or am I still focused on the earthly things that distract me under the sun?