This morning I am reading in the book of Luke chapter 9. Got me to thinking about how tired my children and grand children must have been after a 20-21 hour day yesterday, as they traveled back from an away football game. In this passage we see that the disciples have had a really busy week as well. They have come to a Samaritan village, after this grueling week, and have been told there is no room available for them. “Lord, should we call down fire from heaven to burn them up?” James and John suggested. “Yeah!” someone else agreed. “Let’s vap-o-rize them!” Jesus didnt say anything. However I am betting that the expression on His face made it clear that if He was going to vaporize anyone, His vengeful disciples would be first. Instead He turned around and walked down the road toward the next village. OK, so maybe they didnt use the word vaporize but it’s not that far off. This much is true: Even though the disciples had an accurate idea of Jesus’ power - He could have “vaporized” that Samaritan village, they had an inaccurate understanding of Jesus’ self-control - He controlled His power (and maybe even His desire) to destroy that village. The story illustrates the fact that God not only commands self-control because He values it, but He also values self-control because He is self-controlled. God isnt controlled by His emotions. He’s not controlled by outside influences. He’s not controlled by circumstances. He is self-controlled! You and I should be happy about that. Were it not for the Lord’s self-control, I am pretty sure that I would have been vaporized long ago! We should also be grateful because God’s self-control helps us to know that self-control is right - even when we’re tempted to vaporize a village. The Lord is long-suffering and slow to anger, and abundant in mercy and loving-kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression; . . . Numbers 14:18a Think about it! SELAH!
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 11:33:55 +0000
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