Wednesday SHINE....
Today’s Reading: Matthew 18
Our Road-map
Good morning, SHINE girls! This is Rebekah
Vepraskas. :) How are y’all? Bright eyed,
loving your Savior and off to a great morning? Indeed...! :)
Well, hold on to your caps because Jesus comes on
strong in Matthew 18 today, girlies. Wow!
Every word sinks right down to your bones; every
slice has really good teaching we can take to heart. He even steps on some toes
here, or he steps on mine…
Keep in mind that the disciples are having a
petty fight when Jesus is asked in verse (1), “Who gets the
highest rank in God’s kingdom?”
He responds in a lengthy
explanation, challenging them to humble themselves like children, resist all
forms of temptation, give children the attention they seek from us, engage in conflict
resolution, forgive in all cases, and he talks about the good Shepherd seeking
out one wayward sheep.
Verse 12: “If a man has a hundred sheep,
and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the
mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?
13 And if he finds it, truly, I say to you, he rejoices over it more
than over the ninety-nine that never went astray.”
Recently, I heard a teacher say
that the Lord gave us commandments not to make life hard, but to make life
easier. Wow! That's a novel perspective!! But... it kinda makes sense.
He gave us a road map through
His teaching to show us the way. He
didn’t teach these things to give us an unattainable standard to live by. He
loves us. He was fully human, too. He gets us. He knows that things like forgiveness are hard to exercise, but
vitally important. He knows that giving children the direction and attention they
deserve is a huge responsibility, but vitally important. He cautions us to
resist temptation because it will make life easier for us if we do. He tells us
to humble ourselves because he knows it’s not our nature, but again, it’s vitally
important.
In the middle of all of these
cautionary topics that Jesus lays out, He tells us how desperately He seeks
us.
Wow…
He doesn’t want His teachings
to create space and distance between us and Him. He wants to make life better
and smoother for us.
It's OK for Jesus to give us a road-map without us having to buck Him back. The road map is for us, not HIM. He loves us the same, regardless, we never earned that love.
If we have slipped away, only
for a second and only because we weren’t paying attention, He doesn’t want us
using His road-map as an excuse to stay away.
...Maybe you’re really far away; He
is still on the side of the mountain searching for you, His irreplaceable sheep. That road-map is our notes/cheat sheet to the
open book test of life. We are being deceived by satan if we believe that Jesus’
road map is a reason to stay away from our Good Shepherd.
Ok, I don't know about you, but to me-- that's good news!
I love Matthew 18 because it’s a road map with a real big hug right smack-dab in the middle. The Lord has his arms open, let’s run back to
Him with whatever we’re facing in our path. He is so ready to guide us again.
Stringing a bell around my neck (so he can find me),
Rebekah :)
