Sunday, February 10, 2013

February 10 (Luke 4:18-19)

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”  (NIV) 

This is what Luke records as the beginning of Jesus’ public ministry.  What an introduction!  Jesus says He has come to strike down the godless, to set forth an unambiguous set of rules for how to please God, and to whip humanity into shape.
Oh, wait.  That is not what He says at all.  Perhaps that is what some of us would like for Him to have said.  The problem is, that is not what He actually said.  He picked up a scroll, read from Isaiah, and then proclaimed that the prophecy had been fulfilled in Him.  Pause for a moment on each one of the five purposes that Jesus Himself claims were His.

If you never heard anything else about Him, would this alone not make you love Him?  Would you not drop everything and do whatever it took to find this man who boldly states that He is bringing good news, freedom, sight, release, and favor from God?  Pause again and see which one of these your heart needs most.  You will feel it.  One of those is speaking to you.  Now ask Jesus for it.  After all, He is the one who said He had come to bring it.

O Jesus, You know what my heart needs even more than I do.  Today I am dropping all the pretension and motions of my faith and just laying my heart before You.  Speak to me, Jesus, and bring into my life what You said You came to bring to the world.  Amen.

Copyright © 2013 by Steven R. Perkins

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