Tuesday 24 Jun 2014

June 24: Matthew 10:40-42

Key Verse: Matthew 10:42
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

Devotion:
When Christ spoke these words to the disciples He did not want them to get big heads or to be overly proud of who they were. The prophets were held in great esteem and rightfully so because they were the direct messengers of God. But anyone who only follows the prophets will only receive what the prophets can give them. And so on down to the very least of us, the disciples also being counted as mere people telling others of Christ. If people are going to only follow us, then the only reward they can get is what we give them.

But when we follow Christ, we get what He can give us and that is a relationship with God! We may be the smallest part of the whole cycle, but we are important parts because we are the one who will plant those very first seeds so that others will get to know that there is more out there. Those seeds may be what someone will take with them to visit a more righteous person and find out more about God. That information is then taken and built up with the law and the scriptures to reveal Christ. When that person gets to Christ He can open their hearts to the truth.

We (I say this as a Christian) should never count ourselves as being righteous in our own rights because we are just like every other person apart from the fact that we have a relationship with Christ. We should never count ourselves as being like the prophets because God has not approached us in the same way as He did to them. We are but messengers for Christ.

Our aim should be to remain steadfast in getting the Gospel out to people and making sure that they hear the truth about Christ. Not everyone is going to listen to us, but unless we do step forward they may not ever get to hear the Gospel in a way that they can relate to. Hearing the truth from a person you know is always easier to accept and tends to make more sense. When a complete stranger starts talking we may not be so intent in listening, especially if we think the subject is of no interest to us to start with. Be a friend today and tell someone about Christ!

Points to Ponder:
How important do you think you are?

Christ came as a servant!