Listen

He began to explain to them, “Today, this scripture has been fulfilled just as you heard it.”

Everyone was raving about Jesus, so impressed were they by the gracious words flowing from his lips. They said, “This is Joseph’s son, isn’t it?”

Then Jesus said to them, “Undoubtedly, you will quote this saying to me: ‘Doctor, heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we’ve heard you did in Capernaum.’”

Luke 4:21-23

Think

I grew up in the church where I served my first 20 years of ministry. They cared for me in the nursery, celebrated as I made my profession of faith, and showered me with love when I graduated from seminary. They were good people. But one of the challenges I faced early in my ministry was helping those same people see me as a minister and not just the preschooler they taught at Vacation Bible School. Jesus faces a similar challenge in our passage today; the people in his hometown were struggling to see him for who he was because they knew him as just the neighborhood kid.

How we are perceived by others should matter to us, but it shouldn’t be our focus. When pleasing God in all we do with our lives is our primary focus, others will most likely recognize that about us. Jesus continued to be faithful to the mission he was sent to fulfill despite the naysayers and doubters. Likewise, how might you remain faithful to the mission to which God has called you?

Niki Hays

Pray

Lord, may my focus be on you as I navigate through my day.

Remind me I was created to please you with the words I say, the actions I take, and the thoughts I entertain.

Teach me what it means to be faithful.

Amen.

Go

Take my will and make it thine
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thy own;
it shall be thy royal throne,
it shall be thy royal throne.

Frances R. Havergal in “Take My Life, And Let It Be” (1874)

Surrender.

Give over to God your whole heart.

Live in the fullness of God’s grace this day.