Today’s scripture: Luke 22:24-30 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Ben Lamb):
How did Jesus do it? Here he is, being plotted against by highly influential people; having a bunch of his followers not quite comprehending what all he’s wanting them to understand; and now a squabble breaks out at dinner time, among the closest of his inner circle about who’s going to be top dog in the next life, even though the current one is still in full swing. What’s a Savior to do?
Not surprisingly, Jesus sets a — well, perfect — example. Luke uses no exclamation marks in relaying this passage; Jesus apparently did not yell this portion of his words at his disciples. Jesus had more patience than I could have mustered.
One day while in first grade, we had a coloring assignment in which a picture would “magically” appear if we followed the directions to fill-in each section according to the legend printed at the bottom of the page. I’ll always remember the number “1” was designated as red.
Later that day, Mom and I went to visit Grandma Collins out on the farm. One of my aunts and a cousin were there, too. Grandma had a coloring book for my cousin and me to use. Lo and behold, it had one of those same “color by number and ye shall find” pictures. When Grandma started on it with us, she wanted to color number “1” with some color other than red. I told her emphatically, “Number one is red.” She said she wanted it to be her color. “No, Grandma” I said, “Mrs. Young [my teacher] told us today ‘One is red’!” I’d never raised my voice at Grandma before! My young cousin tried to calm me down by saying that it didn’t really matter what color Grandma used as long as she was consistent. “No!” was my reply to her as well. “One is red!”
I honestly don’t remember how that coloring fiasco turned out: whether Grandma changed my mind or changed her crayon. But, what I do remember is this: Grandma never yelled back at me during whatever it was that happened next.
Now, I realize there’s an infinite difference between choosing a red crayon and someone willingly becoming the sacrificial lamb for all humanity. But my point is this: Grandma looked to Jesus as her example for how to maintain composure during a time when it would have been easy to become angry or short-tempered in response. I hope I can do the same thing more often than I currently do, both outwardly and inwardly.
Thought for the day: Jesus, thank you for being both the gold and godly standard for us to look up to.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.