Pause

It's always nice to go to a place where you feel comfortable and at home. But it's another thing to leave a sense of well-being and venture into the unknown.

Jesus calls us to be with him, but his call is also to go, to move into areas that are unfamiliar and even foreboding.

Still, it is good to remember that Jesus' promise is to be with us no matter where we roam. That promise holds for you now.

Listen

The seventy returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”

Luke 10:17-20

Think

A dictionary will tell you that “return” means “to come back in thought, condition, or practice.” In today’s passage, the 70 come back from their journey, but they come back different from when they first came to Christ. Now they have firsthand experience of what Christ’s journey on earth was like.

They left knowing who Christ was and the glorious acts that he had done. But even though they knew and realized who he was, they still came back changed. Being sent on a journey by Christ meant their mindset was changed, their condition was changed, and their behavior was changed.

They came back rejoicing because of what Christ had done, but also for their own personal changes. We all must come to Christ in order to be sent on a personal journey to return changed! We are disciples sent on a journey by Christ, journeying to change the world, but also for ourselves to be changed and transformed.

Timothy Peoples

Pray

Lord, as I travel on this Christian journey, guide me, lead me, and instruct me. As I go out to change the world in your name, change me to become more like you. Amen.

Go

Go.

Go where you are needed.

Go where you will find God –
In the eyes and
In the faces
Of God's beloved ones.

This is where you are being sent.

This is where you will find your work and,
Eventually,
Where you will find yourself again at home.