Psalm of the Day: Psalm 119:161-168
Wisdom of the Day: Proverbs 1:1-16
Scripture Reading: Luke 10:1-7
The third point in our Lord's charge to the seventy disciples is the thorough devotion to their work which He enjoined upon them. They were to abstain even from the appearance of covetousness, or love of money, or luxury, "Carry neither purse, nor bag, nor shoes." They were to behave like men who had no time to waste on the empty compliments and conventional courtesies of the world, "Greet no man along the way."
These remarkable words must, doubtless be interpreted with some qualification. The time came when our Lord Himself, at the end of His ministry, said to the disciples, "He who has a purse let him take it, and likewise his bag" (Luke 22:36). The apostle Paul was not ashamed to use greetings. The apostle Peter expressly commands us to "be courteous." (1 Peter 3:8.)
But after every qualification there remains a deep lesson beneath these words of our Lord, which ought not to be overlooked. They teach us that we a should beware of allowing the world to eat up their time and thoughts, and to hinder us in our spiritual work! They teach us that care about money, and excessive attention to what are called "the courtesies of life" are mighty snares in the way of Christ's laborers, and snares into which they must take heed lest they fall.
Let us strive to show the men of the world, that we have no time for their mode of living. Let us show them that we find life too precious to be spent in perpetual feasting, and visiting, and calling, and the like as if there were no death, or judgment, or life to come!
By all means let us be courteous. But let us not make the courtesies of life into an idol before which everything else must bow down. Let us declare plainly that we seek a country beyond the grave, and that we have no time for that incessant round of eating, and drinking, and dressing, and civility, and exchange of compliments, in which so many try to find their happiness, but evidently try in vain.
Let our principle be that of Nehemiah, "I am doing a great work so that I cannot come down." (Nehemiah 6:3.)
Prayer for the Day: Dear Lord, help me to be busy about your work.
Action Plan: What work has God called you to do today? What will interfere? How will you overcome?
This devotional was taken from The Gospel of Luke by J.C. Ryle published in 1858
and adapted by Pastor Tim Lewis of New England Shores Baptist Church.
