“Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword.” Matthew 10:34
In the process of sending out the twelve disciples for duty Jesus was giving them a little teaching of their own. He talked to them about going out to the lost sheep, going where they were welcomed. He brought up the subject of being sheep amongst wolves, fearing not, a little tid bit about sparrows and hair, confessing and denying then he throws in this phrase. “Do not suppose!”
“Do not suppose!’ That one little phrase seemed to bring the whole conversation to a halt. He told them not to suppose He was there to bring peace on earth because what He really was here for was to bring a sword. He went on to say that He was going to turn mother against daughter, man against father. He was going to make it so a man’s enemies will be in his own household.
Ouch! It almost sounded like a declaration of war instead of a proclamation of peace. He went on to say those who love their father or mother more than God is not worthy of God. Another offense that would make us unworthy of God would be not taking up our cross daily and following Him.
There was no beating around the bush that day as Jesus prepared His disciples to go out amongst the people. Before the message got twisted into something it shouldn’t be Jesus made sure He set the record straight. Even before Jesus came some of the people had the message slightly wrong.
Living within our own fantasies we’d like to think that Jesus came to gather us all into His arms just as we are and we get to stay that way as He sweeps us off in to Heaven. As we go flying through the air with the greatest of ease with no effort on our part we get to arrive in our made up hutch in Heaven with no effort on our part at ALL. “And they lived happily ever after.” La de dah la de dah la de dah.
Wrong. We get to be gathered into His arms just as we are but we have to accept the invitation. Our job is to get properly dressed in the clothes of Christ for our journey. The sword Jesus brought was the sword of truth, the sword of discipline, the sword of right choices, and choosing to live as God wants us to on our way to heaven. Doing what is right will divide homes as some will believe in Jesus and others will not but we can’t let that stop us. There’s a song that is often sung that talks about “Though none go with me still I will follow.” That is the way we need to live our lives with the attitude of though none go with me still I will follow.
We are the ones who get to crawl up into the lap of Jesus and hang on for the ride. It’s a journey that is highly recommended as the destination of Heaven is just over the horizon. It’s not up to us to question the order in which God does things. It’s apparent the sword had to come first but peace is definitely on its way. It shows up in our hearts when we get Jesus properly settled down deep within us with its greatest fulfillment to come when eternity arrives and our permanent address changes to Heaven. We don’t have to “suppose” there is a Heaven and Hell we know there is and thanks to the sword of Jesus we can choose where we want to spend our eternity. It’s done with no supposing only choosing, Praise the Lord.
In the process of sending out the twelve disciples for duty Jesus was giving them a little teaching of their own. He talked to them about going out to the lost sheep, going where they were welcomed. He brought up the subject of being sheep amongst wolves, fearing not, a little tid bit about sparrows and hair, confessing and denying then he throws in this phrase. “Do not suppose!”
“Do not suppose!’ That one little phrase seemed to bring the whole conversation to a halt. He told them not to suppose He was there to bring peace on earth because what He really was here for was to bring a sword. He went on to say that He was going to turn mother against daughter, man against father. He was going to make it so a man’s enemies will be in his own household.
Ouch! It almost sounded like a declaration of war instead of a proclamation of peace. He went on to say those who love their father or mother more than God is not worthy of God. Another offense that would make us unworthy of God would be not taking up our cross daily and following Him.
There was no beating around the bush that day as Jesus prepared His disciples to go out amongst the people. Before the message got twisted into something it shouldn’t be Jesus made sure He set the record straight. Even before Jesus came some of the people had the message slightly wrong.
Living within our own fantasies we’d like to think that Jesus came to gather us all into His arms just as we are and we get to stay that way as He sweeps us off in to Heaven. As we go flying through the air with the greatest of ease with no effort on our part we get to arrive in our made up hutch in Heaven with no effort on our part at ALL. “And they lived happily ever after.” La de dah la de dah la de dah.
Wrong. We get to be gathered into His arms just as we are but we have to accept the invitation. Our job is to get properly dressed in the clothes of Christ for our journey. The sword Jesus brought was the sword of truth, the sword of discipline, the sword of right choices, and choosing to live as God wants us to on our way to heaven. Doing what is right will divide homes as some will believe in Jesus and others will not but we can’t let that stop us. There’s a song that is often sung that talks about “Though none go with me still I will follow.” That is the way we need to live our lives with the attitude of though none go with me still I will follow.
We are the ones who get to crawl up into the lap of Jesus and hang on for the ride. It’s a journey that is highly recommended as the destination of Heaven is just over the horizon. It’s not up to us to question the order in which God does things. It’s apparent the sword had to come first but peace is definitely on its way. It shows up in our hearts when we get Jesus properly settled down deep within us with its greatest fulfillment to come when eternity arrives and our permanent address changes to Heaven. We don’t have to “suppose” there is a Heaven and Hell we know there is and thanks to the sword of Jesus we can choose where we want to spend our eternity. It’s done with no supposing only choosing, Praise the Lord.
© 2010 Karen J Gillett @ Pencil Marks and Recipes Publishing
5 comments:
Great post Karen! Thank you for sharing today.
I have to say I am so looking forward to my permanent address; heaven. I want to crawl up into the Father's lap. In the meantime though, life can be hard. But I choose Jesus.
Great post Karen.
Blessings,
Debbie
"'Do not suppose!' That one little phrase seemed to bring the whole conversation to a halt."
It's very interesting how you paused on this phrase. It's so easy to skip straight to the part about the sword.
"Do not suppose"...I suppose we suppose too much. This post was full of great insights. Thank you for participating.
Though none go with me, still I will follow.
Great reminder for us, Karen. We must choose this day whom we will serve.
As you put it, way too many Christians are living in the ...“And they lived happily ever after.” La de dah la de dah la de dah. existence.
If -- and when -- we sacrifice our mission to share the FullGospel of Salvation in the attempt to keep peace, then we are in ladedah lad de dah-land. The sword is indeed the very fact that people will resist the Gospel.
Great thoughts here!
Thank you
~esthermay
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