Bible League: Living His Word "And the very hairs on your head are all numbered."Jesus told His disciples that they should not "be afraid of those who want to kill your body." This is because they can only kill the body, but they "cannot touch your soul." Consequently, the disciples should "Fear only God, who can destroy both soul and body in hell" (Matthew 10:28). Disciples of Jesus Christ, in other words, should not fear the persecution of the persecutors, because they cannot touch the soul and they cannot control the eternal destiny of the soul and the body. Further, we should not be afraid because God keeps track of everything. Jesus said, ". . . not a single sparrow can fall to the ground without your Father knowing it" (Matthew 10:29), and, as our verse for today says, "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." Nothing can happen in this world that is full of trials, troubles, tribulations, and persecutions without God being aware of it. Indeed, "he makes everything work out according to his plan" (Ephesians 1:11). We need not fear, because God is in control and He has not forgotten about us. Even further, we should not be afraid because God values us very highly. Jesus said, ". . . you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows" (Matthew 10:31). If God is so concerned with sparrows that He even keeps track of single sparrows that fall to the ground, then how much more will He be concerned about us and what happens to us? Whatever may happen to us, we must trust God. We must trust that He "causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God" (Romans 8:28). One would think that God would not be concerned with something so trivial and inconsequential as the number of hairs on our head. Yet our verse for today plainly says that God does keep track. If He is concerned about that small matter, then how much more concerned is He with what happens to us? How much more concerned is He when persecutors and persecution comes our way? God loves us and is concerned about us. He keeps track of everything about us, even the smallest and most inconsequential detail. Take heart today, then, and do not fear, for God even knows how many hairs are on your head at this very moment. Bible in a Year Old Testament ReadingJob 31, 32 Job 31 -- Job Asserts His Integrity NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Job 32 -- Elihu Rebukes Job and His Three Friends NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB New Testament Reading Acts 13:1-23 Acts 13 -- Church Sends Barnabas and Saul on First Missionary Journey; Cyprus; Pisidian Antioch NIV NLT ESV NAS GWT KJV ASV ERV DRB Reading Plan Courtesy of Christian Classics Etherial Library. Tyndale Life Application Daily Devotion What sorrow awaits you who are rich,for you have your only happiness now. Insight If you are trying to find fulfillment only through riches, wealth may be the only reward you will ever get—and it does not last. Challenge We should not seek comfort now at the expense of eternal life. Morning and Evening by Spurgeon Romans 1:7 Called to be saints.We are very apt to regard the apostolic saints as if they were "saints" in a more especial manner than the other children of God. All are "saints" whom God has called by His grace, and sanctified by His Spirit; but we are apt to look upon the apostles as extraordinary beings, scarcely subject to the same weaknesses and temptations as ourselves. Yet in so doing we are forgetful of this truth, that the nearer a man lives to God the more intensely has he to mourn over his own evil heart; and the more his Master honors him in his service, the more also doth the evil of the flesh vex and tease him day by day. The fact is, if we had seen the apostle Paul, we should have thought him remarkably like the rest of the chosen family: and if we had talked with him, we should have said, "We find that his experience and ours are much the same. He is more faithful, more holy, and more deeply taught than we are, but he has the selfsame trials to endure. Nay, in some respects he is more sorely tried than ourselves." Do not, then, look upon the ancient saints as being exempt either from infirmities or sins; and do not regard them with that mystic reverence which will almost make us idolaters. Their holiness is attainable even by us. We are "called to be saints" by that same voice which constrained them to their high vocation. It is a Christian's duty to force his way into the inner circle of saintship; and if these saints were superior to us in their attainments, as they certainly were, let us follow them; let us emulate their ardour and holiness. We have the same light that they had, the same grace is accessible to us, and why should we rest satisfied until we have equalled them in heavenly character? They lived with Jesus, they lived for Jesus, therefore they grew like Jesus. Let us live by the same Spirit as they did, "looking unto Jesus," and our saintship will soon be apparent. Daily Light on the Daily Path 1 John 4:16 We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.Ephesians 2:4-7 But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, • even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), • and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, • so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. John 3:16 "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? Psalm 145:9 The LORD is good to all, And His mercies are over all His works. 1 John 4:19 We love, because He first loved us. Luke 1:45 "And blessed is she who believed that there would be a fulfillment of what had been spoken to her by the Lord." New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. |
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