Day 27: Luke 10-11

Well, it's 11:20pm and the Lord roused me from slumber and said, "Go! Write your blog."

Chapters 10 and 11 of Luke are filled with some of the most beloved passages of truth, it is hard to focus in on any one passage.

May I give some exegetical/interpretational notes that may aid in our understanding.

1. Luke 10:2-3 And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves.

• Do you really think the harvest is plentiful? We often think that there is not anyone really interested in the gospel - that people in America are hard hearted and inoculated to the gospel. Christ's words here should speak to that...THE HARVEST IS PLENTIFUL. That is, there is a harvest out there waiting to be reaped. The problem is that there are too few laborers willing to go and be eaten by the wolves.

2. Luke 10:38-42 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me." 41 But the Lord answered her, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her."

• I think one of the problems we overlook here in this account is not what Martha was doing or not doing, but rather HOW she was doing it. I don't think her serving was all wrong, but rather 2 mannerisms of her serving fall short. First, her serving left out time at the feet of Jesus hearing his words. Service apart from intimate fellowship with the one you are serving is misguided zeal at best, and man centered effort that will never have God's blessing at worst. Second, her service for her Lord was with regard to others rather than singly focused on Christ. Listen to her criticisms and hear her heart. "Look at poor me. I am the only one that truly loves Jesus because I am the only one working." She measured her love by her busyness. Her eyes were diverted and her labor was corrupt. I love the Lord's kind and caring response. "Martha, Martha." Do you hear the loving gentleness behind his rebuke. May we learn to rebuke this way.

3. Luke 11:2 And he said to them, "When you pray, say: "Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

• When you pray, is your praying heaven saturated? As you pray for the health of a loved one or some benefit you desire to see Christ perform for you or a member of your church, is the request heavenward or "you"ward. All praying and all requests must be so that God's name might be hallowed as it ought to be. That his kingdom might be established in the hearts of men on earth as it is in heaven. Let your praying be transformed into Christ exalting requests that sound less like this: "Lord, I need a job - would you give me a job." and more like this: "Lord, I need a job, but I want the job that will allow your name to be magnified in my life the most. Would you direct me to the employment where you may be glorified in my daily bread winning - where your kingdom's advancement might increase because of this job?"

May your study of Luke 10 and 11 increase your walk with the Savior.