DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, APRIL 2, 2013
THE CROSS AND THE SWORD
Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.
For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in law.
And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.
And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me. Matthew 10:34-38
When did the cross come down in your life? I mean, when did you decide to follow Jesus? When did you give your heart to Him and believe unto salvation? When was it that you believed in His death, burial and resurrection? When did the cross become real...when did it become a sword?
The cross brings profound and utter peace to our soul, but it brings a sword to our situation. Our families are torn apart and warring. Jesus says in Matthew 10:35 that He came to set a man at variance against his father. A daughter will oppose her mother. A daughter in law will be persecuted by her mother in law. This is the nature of the cross. Those who are worldly will despise you. Those who are carnal will not understand you. Those who are ungodly will hate you.
Wouldn't it be easier if we could just get along? I mean, if we could not make the cross a big thing...to keep the peace. But Jesus says, if you don't take up the cross, you're "not worthy of me." He says that if you choose the peace of family togetherness more than the love of Christ for your salvation, you can just have the family thing. What can I say?... Jesus is possessive!
Today, though your family may be at war, let the peace of God rule in your hearts!
