Matthew 10 has been a feast to start the day with this week. It has left me with so much to think and pray about. I'm really thankful for David Platt's helpful, challenging insights and his searching questions at the end of each chapter.
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“Anyone who welcomes you welcomes me, and anyone who welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. Whoever welcomes a prophet as a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever welcomes a righteous person as a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones who is my disciple, truly I tell you, that person will certainly not lose their reward.”
Matt 10.40-42
Platt:
In verses 40-42 Jesus talks about the promise that awaits all who follow Him. Jesus' commission is not a summons to gloom and misery; it's a summons to joy and satisfaction. You take the ultimate risk, [Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it. v 39] and in the process you find the ultimate reward. Contrary to what this world believes, we do not find our lives by indulging in the pleasures, the stuff, the safety, and the security of this world. That's a recipe for losing your life. We find our lives in sacrificing these things for the sake of the pleasure, safety, and security to be found in Christ. And when we live like that, the reward is not just for us. Yes, it is for us—we find joy, peace, and life as we live in and with Christ for the spread of the gospel—but it's also for those who hear our proclamation of Christ. When they believe in the gospel, they too experience eternal reward! Isn't that worth it?
Recently, the story was relayed to me by one of our church's mission teams to North Africa about a lady in that region who was brought to a medical clinic in a wheelbarrow. She was sick and about to die, until she received care from Christians. These Christians later shared the gospel with her, and the lady trusted in Christ and then went back home to her own family. When she shared her new faith in Christ with her household, her own father beat her. This kind of reaction is all too common in that region, as most of persecution happens in the household, not primarily from any government. Nevertheless, this lady stood strong and shared the gospel, and her own father, the man who had beaten her, came to faith in Christ. He's now an evangelist, going from village to village sharing the gospel. This story is one of many in that region of the world; however, when you talk with these believers, as some of our church members have, it's not the suffering they talk about. It's the joy. In Christ, the reward far outweighs the risk. And all of this is happening because believers are sharing Christ in their daily lives.
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