Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 (NRSV)
Read Luke 10:1-11, 16-20 on biblegateway.com
Chapter 10After this the Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go. Verse 2He said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Verse 3Go on your way. See, I am sending you out like lambs into the midst of wolves. Verse 4Carry no purse, no bag, no sandals; and greet no one on the road. Verse 5Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace to this house!' Verse 6And if anyone is there who shares in peace, your peace will rest on that person; but if not, it will return to you. Verse 7Remain in the same house, eating and drinking whatever they provide, for the laborer deserves to be paid. Do not move about from house to house. Verse 8Whenever you enter a town and its people welcome you, eat what is set before you; Verse 9cure the sick who are there, and say to them, 'The kingdom of God has come near to you.' Verse 10But whenever you enter a town and they do not welcome you, go out into its streets and say, Verse 11'Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet, we wipe off in protest against you. Yet know this: the kingdom of God has come near.' Verse 16"Whoever listens to you listens to me, and whoever rejects you rejects me, and whoever rejects me rejects the one who sent me."
Verse 17The seventy returned with joy, saying, "Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!" Verse 18He said to them, "I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. Verse 19See, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy; and nothing will hurt you. Verse 20Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven."
Devotion
It does not matter what powers we seek or may even be capable of wielding. We may be able to tear down the mountains and drop their dross into the sea, but it will not fill the hollow place of our inmost heart as we seek our own glory and profit. There is no machine we can command and no tool we can manipulate that can patch the broken Adam within us. It is beyond our reach, beyond our knowledge and we must merely tinker around the edges until the Spirit will surely come and remind us that He has filled us. We are filled to the brim and our names are indeed written in heaven. Only then may we find rest.
Prayer
Never let us forget that we are not the authors of your word of life, precious Savior. We must be the athletes of your will. While we may run the race of a thousand miles, you have surely run the last mile for us, the one we cannot complete without you at our side. Amen.