Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

² These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; ⁴ Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. ⁶ Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. ⁷ As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,^[a] drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

⁹ “Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts— ¹⁰ no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. ¹¹ Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. ¹² As you enter the home, give it your greeting. ¹³ If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. ¹⁴ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

Freely Give

Jesus, I realize that you want us to live life under your authority and to carry out your mission.  As we are healed, we should heal others.  Ironically, I don’t feel much like evangelizing the world on this particular day.  My back hurts and I feel muggy.  I want to blame others for my lack of passion about things that matter, but I think I need to cultivate a passion for souls.  The physical condition of our bodies shapes so much else.  I think that I pushed it a bit far exercising with my son yesterday, and so my body doesn’t respond well to living for Jesus today.  However, when I think of those like Joni (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Foffh-gneRs)  and how they pull themselves out of bed each day and experience you so richly.

We have received so much through you, Jesus.  We don’t feel it or think about it a lot of the time.  We are entitled and spoiled children.  We wish we had more.  However, the message we have is so important that it needs to be unencumbered with possessions.  The disciples too nothing except a heart devoted to you and the Kingdom of Heaven.  They received food and lodging as they moved around.  It sounds like a wild adventure, but we would try and bottle it today and charge people for the experience.  We would try and create a curriculum and market it.  We would try and manufacture a program and have people attend.  You educated a key group and then sent them to reach out in spontaneous and powerful ways.  I guess that you send us in the same ways.

I want my small group to catch a passion for this adventure.  I want to become an agent to them.  I want the churches I preach at to catch on fire with a spontaneous life of service.  I do not want them to be passively entertained.   I want to worry less about what I don’t have or things I have lost, I want to rejoice in what I do have and share what I have gained.  Help me firstly to be grateful of the time that you have spent working in me.  Help me to communicate clearly what I have learned.  Help others to first of all find you and then to grow in you.  Let your kingdom come.

Questions

1. To what did Jesus change the disciples’ title?
2. What were the disciples to do?
3. Why did Jesus send them and not go himself?
4. How is Jesus making you a missionary?
5. What needs to keep changing for you to become more of an evangelist?