PRAYER + PRAISE
Rejoicing in His Salvation
- Adam Cole // July 14, 2009
Nevertheless do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven. —Luke 10:20
Jesus, in the midst of His earthly ministry, in the midst of healing and casting out demons, empowered those closest to Him to do the same, first to His 12 disciples and then to a special group of 70. Their mission was to go to the surrounding towns and do as He did: heal the sick and make known that the Kingdom of God was near.
When the group of 70 returned, they were amazed by the results, claiming “even the demons are subject to us in Your name,†to mean that all was possible if done in the name of Jesus Christ. Christ’s response to their excitement is worth noting. He did not focus on their results, but on the fact that they were bound for heaven, saying that their rejoicing should stem from their names being written in heaven.
As followers of Christ, we come to know and understand His mission and live it out in various ways; if nothing else, planting seeds for a future harvest. We take on projects and reach out to others expectant of results - and often see those results come to be with the help of the Lord.
When we experience the end results of going out as He calls, to see things that He plants in our hearts come to life, we become jubilant and praise Him for the magnificent work that He accomplished. However, Jesus cautions this type of jubilance because it might be a little off in some ways. He brings the focus back to salvation, back to the fact that our center point in everything should be the fact that God has written our names in the Book of Life because of our faith in His Son.
Let us remember, then, that no matter what we achieve here, even in His name, the true reason for celebration, always, is that He has chosen us to enter His Kingdom.
Praise: That we are written in the Book of Life.
Prayer: That we never lose focus on His personal redemption even when we do great things through His power.
Prayer for Today: Lord, we thank You for this life and for those that share this life with us. We thank You for the mission You’ve equipped to make wonders happen often, and how we can achieve those wonders if we act in faith and obedience. We pray that even as we get swept away by Your perfect results, we keep our gaze set on Christ, on His salvation, and the meaning of being one with God in heaven. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.