[Jesus said] I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16
Being Sheep Among Wolves
Sheep among wolves are vulnerable, and they must depend on the protection of the shepherd. The Lord says, “As a shepherd looks after his scattered flock when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep” (Ezekiel 34:12). We live each day trusting that Jesus, our ever-present and almighty God will safely lead us and completely provide for us.
But this dependence on the Shepherd is not the only way God wants us to live as his followers. Jesus urged the disciples to be cunning, resourceful, and use every gift they had at their disposal. Human reason, for example, is a useful tool God has given us, but we must remember that reason is only a tool and does not supplant faith in God’s revealed truth in the Bible.
Jesus also urges his disciples to be “innocent as doves.” “Innocent” is the same word used in Romans 16:19 “be innocent about what is evil,” and Philippians 2:15 “so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God.” We are not to be mixed with sin. But with the help of the Holy Spirit, we strive to lead lives that are blameless and pure in the eyes of God.
That’s a lot to live up to: have a pure life, be cunning and shrewd about the world and about spreading the gospel, yet be sheep among wolves. How can we do it? Never perfectly, that’s for certain. Which is why we needed Jesus to rescue us from those times when we have not lived up to God’s perfect standard. Thankfully, Jesus has done just that. And now, with the help of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus sends into our hearts, we are enabled to daily put to death the sinful nature with which we were born, and to be “eager to do what is good” (Titus 2:14).
Prayer:
Thank you, Jesus, for protecting me from the spiritual wolves that surround me. Amen.
When Jesus came into Peter’s house, he saw Peter’s mother-in-law lying in bed with a fever. He touched her hand and the fever left her, and she got up and began to wait on him. When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and bore our diseases.” Matthew 8:14-17
Jesus’ Compassion
Jesus tenderly showed his compassion to Peter’s mother-in-law, at the same time displaying his power as God. It’s true that sometimes a fever will quickly break when someone is ill. Even then, the person needs time to recover and regain strength. However, we read in this account that the woman got up when the fever left her at the touch of Jesus’ hand, and she waited on him. Jesus performed a miracle.
As a result, there were many people with sickness and demon-possession who came to Jesus on that same day. Jesus did not refuse any of them; he healed them all. He demonstrated his tender mercy and displayed his almighty power.
Jesus’ care for people’s illnesses and miraculous activity to alleviate their suffering was proof that he was the Savior promised by God’s prophets in the Old Testament. Isaiah had written about him: “He took up our pain and bore our suffering” (Isaiah 53:4). There is nothing we know, nothing we are terrorized by or burdened with, that Jesus does not know about. We always have the comfort of his presence and confidence in his power to come to our aid.
As marvelous as this is, even better is the knowledge that Jesus took up our pain and bore the suffering our sins deserved. He is the promised Savior. So, no matter what you may be suffering physically or emotionally today, rest in the comfort of knowing your Savior has made you safe spiritually.
Prayer:
When I hurt, Lord Jesus, comfort me with your presence and help me by the power of your word and the promise of the heaven you won for me. Amen.
[Jesus said] “Show me the coin used for paying the tax.” They brought him a denarius, and he asked them, “Whose image is this? And whose inscription?” “Caesar’s,” they replied. Then he said to them, “So give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” Matthew 22:19-21
Whose Image Is on You?
Some questions have no safe answer. Who did you vote for? Do you like my cooking? How does this dress make me look?
Jesus once got a question like that. His opponents asked whether it was right to pay taxes to the Roman emperor. Either answer could get him in trouble. So Jesus asked for a coin.
“Whose image is this?” he asked. “Caesar’s,” they replied. The coin carried the emperor’s face, so it belonged to him. Give it to him.
Although you are, obviously, not a coin, you are stamped with someone’s image. The Bible says that God made you. You are stamped with his image. That means you belong to him.
Sin has damaged that image. None of us has lived the way God demands. So Jesus came to buy you back. He lived the perfect life you could not, then died on a cross as your ransom, the price paid to set a prisoner free. Because he rose again, you can be sure it worked.
Here is one question that does have a safe answer: How do I look to God? Forgiven, loved, and his own.
Knowing this, live your life for him. Worship him. Love the people he brings into your life. Serve those around you. You are his. Give yourself fully to his service. Give to God what is God’s.
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for buying me back and making me your own. I belong to you. Help me live today as someone fully yours and serve the people around me. Amen.
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12 So then, just as sin entered the world through one man and death through sin, so also death spread to all people because all sinned. 13 For even before the law was given, sin was in the world. Now, sin is not charged to one’s account if there is no law, 14 and yet death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those whose sin was not like the transgression of Adam, who is a pattern [1] of the one who was to come.
15 But the gracious gift is not like Adam’s trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of this one man, it is even more certain that God’s grace, and the gift given by the grace of the one man Jesus Christ, overflowed to the many!
16 And the gift is not like the effect of the one man’s sin, for the judgment that followed the one trespass resulted in a verdict of condemnation, but the gracious gift that followed many trespasses resulted in a verdict of justification.
17 Indeed, if by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through the one man, it is even more certain that those who receive the overflowing grace of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ!
18 So then, just as one trespass led to a verdict of condemnation for all people, so also one righteous verdict led to life-giving justification [2] for all people. 19 For just as through the disobedience of one man the many became sinners, so also through the obedience of one man the many will become righteous.
20 The law came in to increase the trespass, but where sin increased, grace overflowed much more, 21 so that just as sin reigned in death, so also grace would reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
1 Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace [1] with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Through him we also have obtained access by faith [2] into this grace in which we stand. And we rejoice confidently on the basis of our hope for the glory [3] of God.
3 Not only this, but we also rejoice confidently in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces patient endurance, 4 and patient endurance produces tested character, and tested character produces hope. 5 And hope will not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, who was given to us.
God’s Love Is Evident in Christ’s Death for the Ungodly
6 For at the appointed time, while we were still helpless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7 It is rare indeed that someone will die for a righteous person. Perhaps someone might actually go so far as to die for a person who has been good to him. 8 But God shows his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
9 Therefore, since we have now been justified by his blood, it is even more certain that we will be saved from God’s wrath through him. 10 For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, it is even more certain that, since we have been reconciled, we will be saved by his life. 11 And not only is this so, but we also go on rejoicing confidently in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received this reconciliation.
Footnotes
Romans 5:1 Some witnesses to the text read let us have peace.
Romans 5:2 Some witnesses to the text omit by faith.
16 For this reason, the promise is by faith, so that it may be according to grace and may be guaranteed to all of Abraham’s descendants—not only to the one who is a descendant by law, but also to the one who has the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all. 17 As it is written: “I have made you a father of many nations.” [1]
Abraham’s Faith Was a Firm Trust in God’s Promise
In the presence of God, Abraham believed him who makes the dead alive and calls non-existing things so that they exist. [2]18 Hoping beyond what he could expect, he believed that he would become the father of many nations, just as he was told: “This is how many your descendants will be.” [3]19 He did not weaken in faith, even though he considered his own body as good as dead (because he was about one hundred years old), and even though he considered Sarah’s womb to be dead. 20 He did not waver in unbelief with respect to God’s promise, but he grew strong in faith, giving glory to God 21 and being fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22 This is why “it was credited to him as righteousness.” [4]
23 Now the statement “it was credited to him” was not written for him alone, 24 but also for us to whom it would be credited, namely, to us who believe in the one who raised our Lord Jesus from the dead. 25 He was handed over to death because of our trespasses and was raised to life because of our justification.
Footnotes
Romans 4:17 Genesis 17:5
Romans 4:17 Or speaks of non-existing things as though they exist
1 What then will we say that Abraham, our forefather, discovered according to the flesh? 2 If indeed Abraham had been justified by works, he would have had a reason to boast—but not before God. 3 For what does Scripture say? “Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness.” [1]
4 Now to a person who works, his pay is not counted as a gift but as something owed. 5 But to the person who does not work but believes in the God who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited to him as righteousness.
6 This is exactly what David says about the blessed state of the person to whom God credits righteousness apart from works:
7 Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven and whose sins are covered. 8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him. [2]
Abraham Was Justified Before His Circumcision
9 Now then, does this blessing apply only to the circumcised or also to the uncircumcised? To be sure, we maintain that faith was credited to Abraham as righteousness. 10 So then, under what circumstances was it credited to him? Was he circumcised or uncircumcised at that time? He was not circumcised but uncircumcised, 11 and he received the mark of circumcision as the seal of the righteousness by faith that was already his while he was uncircumcised. So Abraham is the father of all the uncircumcised people who believe, so that righteousness would also be credited to them. 12 He is also the father of the circumcised people who are not merely circumcised but also walk in the footsteps of the faith our father Abraham had before he was circumcised.
Abraham Received What God Promised by Faith, Not by Law
13 Indeed, the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not given to Abraham or his descendants through the law, but through the righteousness that is by faith. 14 To be sure, if people are heirs by the law, faith is empty and the promise is nullified. 15 For law brings wrath. (Where there is no law, there is no transgression.)
21 But now, completely apart from the law, a righteousness from God has been made known. The Law and the Prophets testify to it. 22 This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all and over all [1] who believe.
In fact, there is no difference, 23 because all have sinned and fall short of the glory [2] of God 24 and are justified [3] freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God publicly displayed as the atonement seat [4] through faith in his blood. God did this to demonstrate his justice, since, in his divine restraint, he had left the sins that were committed earlier unpunished. 26 He did this to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so that he would be both just and the one who justifies the person who has faith in Jesus.
27 What happens to boasting then? It has been eliminated. By what principle [5]—by the principle of works? No, but by the principle of faith. 28 For we conclude that a person is justified by faith without the works of the law. 29 Or is he only the God of the Jews? Is he not also the God of the Gentiles? Yes, also of the Gentiles, 30 since there is one God who will justify the circumcised person by faith and the uncircumcised person through the very same faith. 31 So are we doing away with the law by this faith? Absolutely not! Instead, we are upholding the law.
Footnotes
Romans 3:22 Some witnesses to the text omit and over all.
Romans 3:23 Or approval
Romans 3:24 Or declared righteous
Romans 3:25 The atonement seat was the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. It served as the footstool of God’s throne and was the place where the sacrificial blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement (see Leviticus 16:2,14,15). Christ is the fulfillment of the function of the atonement seat.
Romans 3:27 In this verse, principle translates the Greek term nomos, which is often translated law.
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