October 4
Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-17; Matthew 11:1-19; Luke 7:18-35; Matthew 11:20-30; Luke 7:36-50
Everyone knows their birthday. One day everyone will know the day that you die and leave this earth. But what was the day that you died to self, accepted Jesus Christ, and was born again. You might not remember an exact date, but do you remember the event, or the period of time when that occurred. Oswald Chambers wrote, "No one experiences complete sanctification without going through the burial of the old self. Death means that you stop being. You must agree with God and stop being the intensely striving kind of Christian you have been. Has there been a point in your life which you now mark as your last day?" We read in Romans 6:4, "... just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." This does not mean that we will not still struggle with sin in one way or another. But, when we enter this world at our birth, we enter as a child. We, in Christ are called God's children. So what was the day, you were willing to stop being an adult, independent, fending for yourself, and start being a child, dependent on Him, and seeking Him and His Word on matters.
We read in Matthew 11:25, "At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes." Again, Jesus said in 18:3, "“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven." This is a reversal of everything that the world teaches us. You might think this seems naive or overly simplistic. You might want to make a list of all of your responsibilities, and question the logic in Jesus' request. Jesus knows the difficulty of life on this earth, He did it. So we read His reaction to this in 11:28-30, "Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” As a child I didn't worry where I would live, or how the bills would be paid. My earthly father took care of this. The same holds true for those of us, no matter what age we are, if we place our lives and our burdens in the Master's hands.
What will this look like? We read in Matthew 11:12, "And from the time John the Baptist began preaching until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing, and violent people are attacking it. (NLT)". As God's children, we are not asked to move forward in our own strength, but in His strength. Perhaps, there is too much of us and too little of Him in our decisions and our actions. Perhaps, we want to maintain our adult status and instead of seeking God as our Father, we want to enlist Him as an adviser. We will never know the freedom that God offers unless we learn to submit to His Lordship.
Messages from Pastor Lloyd Pulley: