“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Matthew 10:16 NIV
Again, it has to be emphasised who Jesus was speaking to here. In the first verse where today's extract is taken from, it is clearly stated: Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. You do not dare go out in his name without first being subject to his name. In fact, demons and impure spirits owe you nothing if you are not under the authority, command and assignment of Jesus. My first assignment here is to be sure and certain of the One who has called me to service. Am I a disciple, or am I part of the crowd, content to just tag or flow along, with no sense of urgency or an idea of what I have been called out of and into?
That understanding is central to the extract of today. Do I know who I work for? Do I know who has called me to work? When I know, it will impact how I relate with the people around me. I am sent; I do not get to choose the audience, the platform or the kind of message I am to deliver or when I am to deliver it. I am placed where I am because the One who determines placement and impact knows just how and where best my life can be a blessing. The fact that He sends me and is backing me up does not also mean there will not be opposition. Wolves are natural enemies of sheep, and would eat sheep without hesitation, yet God would have me know that if he backs me up, I will survive as sheep among wolves.
Let it be clear: I am sent, not to pursue my own thing, but to serve the one who sent me. He knows the territory, and knows what is coming. He knows the nature of the battle and how best to fight and win. I must be as shrewd as snakes and also as innocent as doves. How is that even possible? For a disciple that must live in this world, that is a balance he must find and keep. He must learn what the world represents and how to keep himself unstained by it. He must let his light so shine that his light can be seen by the world. He must not join the world, but seek to impact it by the light he carries. Am I that kind of disciple? Have I sorted out my identity? Am I at work for the One who sent me? God's time of favour is here.
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