Much as I love using quotes, I do see the inherent danger in extracting the odd sentence from a body of carefully written text. It might serve my purposes, however the way I use it doesn’t necessarily reflect what the writer diligently strove to portray.

Soundbites are a particular bugbear of mine. So much so that I quite often feel sorry for politicians when they're shamelessly misquoted this way. And being that they're not usually seen as purveyors of truth, that's saying something.

Therefore, I'll say it again, and again: context is everything. Especially in the Bible which we dip in and out of at will, looking for justification for our speech and actions. All well and good until we suddenly realise the winning sentence/paragraph is the second of three, subsequently taking on a whole new meaning when read in sequence.

Take Matthew 9, for example, in which we see Jesus moving.

Purposefully.

Making a difference in the lives of the:

Physically afflicted

Spiritually blind

Dead

Physically blind

Mentally afflicted

He speaks, explains and heals without apology; assiduously, without guile; leading by example, setting the tone for His disciples and theirs in perpetuity.

All this before He even utters the timeless words, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”*

Then He really gets down to business.

The Hebrew word for which workers is popularly substituted is 'kotzerim' - harvesters. Its root speaks both of a plant being severed at the stalk and one's patience being cut short. In Chapter 10, Jesus epitomizes the two.

He chooses twelve apostles - a number representative of authority, appointment and completeness - giving them specific instructions on how to act without compromise on the journey ahead of them and imbuing them with the power to do so.

We have hitherto seen His loving compassion, but now we see a necessary resoluteness. Sentimentality must take a back seat because there is a great work to be done and lives are at stake.

In a nutshell, it is time to get serious.

Time to pick up that cross and move.

I spent my childhood being told that all my questions would be answered when I was grown-up. Well, that's swiftly come, but there's still sooooo much that puzzles me.

Probably always will.

Today's question?

Do I have what it takes to speak and act; to step out and step up?

Oh, how I pray so...

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📖 Then Jesus said to His disciples, If anyone desires to be My disciple, let him deny himself [disregard, lose sight of, and forget himself and his own interests] and take up his cross and follow Me [cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and, if need be, in dying, also].

Matthew 16:24 AMPC (YouVersion)

*Matthew 9:37‭-‬38 NLT (YouVersion)

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