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Matthew 11:25

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes.”

Encouraging Words

We are told to come to our Lord Jesus Christ as a little child. How does a child behave in situations like this? In humility. In truthfulness. Without guile or contempt. With excitement and awe. And the list goes on. The problem with the wise and the prudent is that they let what they think they know, get in the way of what they don’t know. God wants us to come to Him with a childlike heart and mind, full of humility, love, trust, faith, and acceptance. It is when we approach Him this way that He reveals to us the truths that He wants us to know. Glory be to God!

Matthew 9:36-38

But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest truly is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.”

Personal Challenge

We are not only admonished to pray for the sheep that need to be harvested and for God to provide more workers, but we are also expected to be ready to hear His call and act upon it if He chooses us to be one of the workers. It is never too late to be called to enter into His workforce. Glory be to God!

Matthew 9:2

Then behold, they brought to Him a paralytic lying on a bed. When Jesus saw their faith, He said to the paralytic, “Son, be of good cheer; your sins are forgiven you.”

Personal Challenge

Faith is really a collective thing. We see here that Christ heals a paralytic man because of the faith of his friends. We have become such an individualistically focused society that we neglect to be there for each other, to lift each other up, or to seek the best in each other. It has become easier for us to tear others down rather than to build them up. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Matthew 8:23-27

Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him. And suddenly a great tempest arose on the sea, so that the boat was covered with the waves. But He was asleep. Then His disciples came to Him and awoke Him, saying, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?”

Personal Challenge

So, what kind of faith do I really have? Jesus told us that if we follow Him then our lives will be filled with turmoil and strife because the world does not like Him or His followers. Do I trust Him enough to believe that as long as I stay in His boat the seas around me can be in whatever tempest that gets stirred up, but I will be safe and sound? We are told by the presumptive leaders of our nation that we should trust in them and that they will carry us through the storms facing us and our country today. We are told by the media who we should trust in. The world tells us to trust in it, in wealth, in stuff, in everything but God. And yet, with all of these proclamations of who to trust in, the tempest continues to rail on. It is Jesus who I chose to put my trust in. Just as in the story of Noah, Jesus is my ark. Or in the story of the parting of the Red Sea, Jesus is my straight and dry path forward through the tempest. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 36:1-4 LXX

Have mercy on us, O Lord, the God of all, and look upon us,
And put Your fear on all the nations.
Raise Your hand against foreign nations
And let them see Your power.
As in us You have been sanctified before them,
So in them may You be made great before us.
Let them know You as we also have known You,
For there is no God but You, O Lord.

Personal Challenge

If we read this passage through the filter that we, God’s children, are not citizens of the earthly kingdoms that we live in, but ambassadors of the kingdom of God, then we come away with a very interesting perspective. This passage does not say anything about God making this earthly kingdom great and godly. In other words, as Christians, we should not spend our time praying that God makes America a nation that is all Christian. We should be praying that He will raise up His people, His nation, where we live, and help us to be beacons of light of His love, mercy, grace, and salvation. This is how we bring people to Him. America is an earthly nation that will always be comprised of Christians, Muslims, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, pagans, and everything in between. We, as members of God’s heavenly kingdom should live our lives so that those who do not know Him, want to know Him because of how we live our lives. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Sirach 27:4-7 LXX

When a sieve is shaken, the refuse remains;
So a man’s filth remains in the way he reasons.
As a furnace tests a potter’s vessels,
So the test of a man is in the way he reasons.
As fruit reveals how a tree is cultivated,
So a man’s reasoning process reveals his heart.
Do not praise a man before he reveals the way he reasons,
For this is the way a man is tested.

Personal Challenge

How do I truly reason through things in life? I have never really thought about this until now as I read and meditate on these verses. Do I take the time to examine the situation through the lens of the teaching of the Church or do I just use my own best judgment? What would Jesus say about it? Do I apply that judgement through the lens of loving God and loving my neighbor? I have not really thought that much upon the process of my reasoning, which no one else can see, and how that reflects my relationship with God. One thing is very clear, though, and that is that the root of my reasoning should always be in my Lord. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Wisdom of Sirach 7:32-36 LXX

Stretch forth your hand to the poor,
That your blessing may be complete.
Let the kindness of giving be shown
In the presence of all the living,
And do not withhold kindness from the dead.
Do not withdraw yourself from those who weep,
And mourn with those who mourn.
Do not hesitate to visit a sick man,
For by such visits you will be loved.
With all your words, remember the time you will die,
And you will never sin.

Personal Challenge

Another issue with our modern approach to being independent of the church and believing that we have the ability and authority to interpret the Scriptures is that we end up with everyone thinking that they don’t need the church or God. It is the church, the community of believers that we fellowship with that our salvation is worked out. As John Donne wrote so many years ago, “No man is an island.” To be a viable, productive, growing Christian we must be investing in the lives of others. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Wisdom of Sirach 7:29-31 LXX

Fear the Lord with all your soul
And honor His priests.
Love Him who made you
And do not forsake His ministers.
Fear the Lord and honor His priests,
And give them their portion as commanded:
The firstfruits, the trespass offering,
The gift of the shoulder offering,
The sacrifice of sanctification,
And the firstfruits of the holy things.

Personal Challenge

One of the outcomes of the western approach to Christianity where we are given the authority to interpret the scriptures is that we have diminished the role of the priesthood in the church. God ordained an order to the church, both in the Jewish nation and the new covenant church ushered in by our Lord Jesus Christ. Just as the people were admonished in the day of Sirach to honor and respect those who had been called and ordained into priestly roles, so too are we to do the same in our church today. It is not up to me to declare this structure as invalid because it is God’s structure and not mine. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Wisdom of Sirach 2:1-6

My son, if you draw near to serve the Lord,
Prepare your soul for temptation.
Set your heart right and be steadfast,
And do not strive anxiously in distress.
Cleave to Him and do not fall away,
That you may be honored at the end of your life.
Accept whatever is brought upon you,
And in exchange for your humiliation, be patient;
Because gold is tested in fire
And acceptable men in the furnace of abasement.
Believe in Him, and He will help you;
Make your ways straight and hope in Him.

Personal Challenge

In the gospels we see that when Jesus began His ministry He was immediately tempted by our enemy. Is it any different for the rest of us? When we get ready to do our Father’s work we too will be tempted and beaten upon. Sometimes we give in to the temptation. That is all the more the time to run back to our Lord, confess our sin, and receive His forgiveness, mercy, and love. He will not beat us down, He will lift us up. He will not say, “Look at you, you worthless sinner.” He will hold us in His arms and show us how much He love us. He wants us to keep getting up when we fall and rely on Him to bring us through to the end. Glory be to God!