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An interesting reading hobby of mine lately has been to take passages that are often quoted and find them in the Bible – then read the chapter before and after (ahh...the uncomfortable practice of reading in context). I’ve discovered that lots of the verses that are often quoted by us as comfort and encouragement are surrounded with circumstances that need that level of reassurance.
In my Bible today’s passage is entitled “Jesus sends out the twelve” – so often conjures up the great experiences of healing, raising the dead, casting out demons – “freely giving what they have received”...yet in the same breath Jesus speaks of the cost – he up front says “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves”, he promises floggings, false arrests, betrayal, hatred & persecution.
Jesus never denied the cost – sometimes I wonder if we do. Do we stop reading at verse fifteen because the reality of sixteen onwards is well outside of our comfort zone. The question I find myself asking is “do I really want to give what I have freely received...if the reception is the same as what the disciples were promised.”
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