Matthew 10:29-33

Matthew 10:29-33

Are two sparrows not sold for a penny?  And one out of them will not fall into the earth independently from your Father.  And even all the hairs upon your head are having been numbered!  Therefore do not fear.  You all are more valuable than many sparrows.  Therefore all who will confess in me in the presence of mankind, I will also confess in him in the presence of my Father – the one in heaven.  But whoever should deny knowing me in the presences of mankind, I will also deny knowing them in the presence of my Father – the one in heaven.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

It is easy to feel like one is lost in such a big world.  There are billions people alive on this planet right now.  That means there have been tens of billions more people who have lived throughout all of human history.  Compared to all of this knowledge, it is so easy to feel small, insignificant, and lost.  It is so easy to be convinced that God cannot possible care about each of us – especially the small and unimportant of us.  As Jesus is preparing to send out His disciples, He wants to make sure that they do not feel this way.  He reminds them that God even cares for the small unforgotten birds like sparrows.  And if God can care about them, He can certainly care about any of us.

Do you ever feel insignificant?  Why is it possible for human beings to feel insignificant from our own understanding?  Do you believe Jesus when He tells us that we are significant?

Second Thought:

Jesus gives us what seems like a simple saying.  Confess Him and salvation seems assured.  Deny Him and condemnation seems assured.  However, we know from other passages like Matthew 7:21 that confession is not a simple set of words that passes through the lips.  Confession of Christ involves both spoken word and life lived in action.  One of my favorite quotes is from Brennan Manning, who says, “The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians, who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle.  That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelieveable.”  If we are going to confess Christ, we need to live like it.  Confessing Christ with our lips but not following Christ with our actions is not confessing Christ at all.

Do you confess with your lips?  How well do you put that confession into practice?  Where can you improve and grow?  Where has Christ already made you successful as His disciple?

Third Thought:

Let’s talk more seriously about the concept of denial.  After all, if we all think about it honestly, who among us doesn’t deny Christ at some point in our life – to a small extent even daily?  It is possible to take passages like this and work them into such a mountain of experience set against us that we surely must be condemned.  So let’s remember one of the last stories that we have regarding Jesus when he walked upon the earth.  Jesus meets Peter by the shore.  Jesus asks Peter if he loves Him.  Three times Peter says yes.  Nobody can argue that Peter denied Jesus.  Yet at the same time, nobody can argue that Peter loved Jesus.  God is a redeeming and loving God.  Peter denied Jesus, but God still forgave Him.  Denial is not the trump card.  Repentance, grace, and love are the trump cards.  There is always an opportunity for forgiveness.  As I’m fond of saying, “God knows that we cannot deliver perfection, so He doesn’t ask for it.  Rather, God asks for a repentant lifestyle.”  We all deny Christ with portions of our lifestyle.  This is why we should live humbly in submission to the Father.  When we live in humble submission to the Father, forgiveness always trumps sin and denial.

Do you ever beat yourself up regarding your sinful nature?  Why is this easy to do?  Do you find it easy or difficult to experience God’s love and grace towards your lifestyle?

Passage for Tomorrow: Matthew 10:34-39