Matthew 10:16-25 (ERV)
Jesus Did Not Come to Earth to Bring Peace
16 “Listen! I am sending you, and you will be like sheep among wolves. So be smart like snakes. But also be like doves and don’t hurt anyone. 17 Be careful! There are people who will arrest you and take you to be judged. They will whip you in their synagogues. 18 You will be taken to stand before governors and kings. People will do this to you because you follow me. You will tell about me to those kings and governors and to the non-Jewish people. 19 When you are arrested, don’t worry about what to say or how you should say it. At that time you will be given the words to say. 20 It will not really be you speaking; the Spirit of your Father will be speaking through you.
21 “Brothers will turn against their own brothers and hand them over to be killed. Fathers will hand over their own children to be killed. Children will fight against their own parents and will have them killed. 22 Everyone will hate you because you follow me. But the one who remains faithful to the end will be saved. 23 When you are treated badly in one city, go to another city. I promise you that you will not finish going to all the cities of Israel before the Son of Man comes again.
24 “Students are not better than their teacher. Servants are not better than their master. 25 Students should be happy to be treated the same as their teacher. And servants should be happy to be treated the same as their master. If those people call me ‘the ruler of demons,’ and I am the head of the family, then it is even more certain that they will insult you, the members of the family!
I once had an employee whose job was to communicate with our customers...She stated that after she got past talking about the weather, she found it difficult to talk about anything else...It is easy to talk about the weather what it is currently and what it will be tomorrow...
Now we did not speak about religion, but it is difficult to talk about Jesus, the "Son" of God...Somehow He is a controversial speaker and is not near as easy to talk about as the weather...And when I think of people just regularly speaking about Jesus, and why it may be difficult I think of these verses above...I really do not know why people in a regular way and a regular place and atmosphere do not talk about the Son of God...
Pastor, author, and teacher Pazaria Smith wrote this about the sun and the Son of God...I read this and thought about the easiness talk of the weather and the controversy of Jesus discussions...Ms. Smith has made it easy to talk about the sun and weather and to learn about the "Son" of God:
“THE "SON" ALWAYS SHINES
We speak of the weather everyday...Is it going to be cloudy and overcast, or will the sunshine provide us warmth on this new day?...We all love the days when the "sun" shines brightly...Not only does the "sun" brighten our day, it serves as a beacon of fulfillment and lasting optimism in this constantly changing world...The "SUN" which, by the way is 93 million miles away from earth, is all well and good for our positive outlooks, but it cannot bring us as much joy and contentment as we seriously lack in our lives...The "sun" does invigorate our bodies, but does nothing to stimulate our souls...
There is only one "SON" that can revitalize our souls and make us truly contented...That's God's "Son", Jesus Christ...With the "Son" of God in our lives, nothing is impossible...With Jesus in our hearts, His powerful LOVES radiates through our souls and is magnified through our thoughts, words and deeds...His brightness is shone through in every aspect of our lives...With Jesus, we sense a new beginning each and every day...He can fill all voids we allow Him to fill...Christ is eager and willing to enter our hearts...He will begin to shine His everlasting Light of LOVE, hope and grace throughout our future discipleship in His Word...Jesus can turn any sadness into gladness, turn doom and despair into hope and reassurance, and more importantly; hate into love...His abundant gifts of mercy and LOVE can transform any lonely den of darkness into a palace of brightly lit possibilities...Ask Jesus to enter your life and transform it into a splendid garden where hope and love spring eternal...The next time we gaze out the window and see clouds forming, let us not forget that the "Son" always shines...As long as we believe and carry Him in our hearts and minds, no day will be gloomy and downcast...God's "Son" shines in our lives everyday!...In Christian Praise, Much ”...
I pray that some day it is easy for everyone in the world to talk about Jesus as it is the weather and the warm sun...