Reading your Bible for Today December 17

December 17: Luke 9:51-56

KJV Key Verse: Luke 9:56
56 For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.

Devotion:
How long do you put up with things before your break? How long do you hold your cool before it snaps? There are always times when we need to show others we are serious by going beyond our normal show of emotions, but it is at that point when we let our emotions take control we need to take care. When we are in an emotional state, we do not have full control of our actions...

Christ made sure His disciples knew exactly why He had come to earth and yet when the village they came to would not receive them, they got upset and wanted to 'nuke' them as Elijah had done to the prophets of Baal. They had let their emotions take control and were going with those emotions – not sound judgement. Christ lowered the boom on them and reminded them He was here to save and not destroy life!

Christ had shown His caring nature by sending messengers in to the town before He entered so the people would not be offended by having to turn Him down face to face. Maybe it was His way of giving them one more chance to accept Him as the Son of God. But they did not want Him to stay anywhere in their village. How sad a position it must have been for Him to know that that was their last chance at knowing Him personally...

Jesus wants us to follow in His example by reaching out to others so they will have the chance at knowing Him. He wants us to continue reaching out, even when people shun us or just don't want to know. He knows that we will get rejected by some, but He wants us to continue reaching out to people, showing them that we do care like He cares for us. Through that love we can begin to show them His love for us...

Points to Ponder:
Do you have a very short fuse?

Aren't we lucky Christ continues trying?