Luke 5:33 - 6:16

Jesus spent the whole night in prayer before he selected the 12 men (unfortunately no women) to be his disciples. We could ask if Jesus made the right choices, since one betrayed Him, another denied Him and a third wanted God’s peaceful kingdom to be brought in by military force.

Despite all that, they seemed to get the work done.

A favourite story of mine is Jesus going back to heaven and God asking, ‘What preparation have you done for your work to continue?'

Jesus replied, ‘I have appointed 12 disciples’.

God asked, ‘How are they doing?’

Jesus responded, ‘Not too badly, some have not worked out the way I expected. One denied me, one betrayed me and the others lost their nerve. But I believe they will be successful’.

‘Why would they be successful?, asked God.

Jesus replied, ‘Because they have you’.

In the sixteenth century, St, Teresa of Avila may have been pondering the same question, and told her followers, ‘Christ has no body now on earth but yours, no hands but yours, no feet but yours, yours are the eyes through which Christ's compassion is to look out to the earth, yours are the feet by which He is to go about doing good and yours are the hands by which God is to bless us now.’ Today, we can do the same for the same reason. Question – How are your hands, feet, eyes and whole body doing what God wants you to do in God’s world?


Tomorrow's reading: Luke 6:17-49

(Today's post submitted by Rev. Hollis Hiscock.)