READING:
One-year plan: 1 Chronicles 24-26, Acts 1
Two-year plan: Deuteronomy 23-24, Luke 3:1-20
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Sometimes it’s just easier to gaze into the heavens than it is to do the work of the Great Commission. That is, we can talk about heavenly things, dream about that eternal day, peer forward to the future, discuss the timing of Jesus’ return – and miss the needs of our neighbors and the nations around us.
The situation for the disciples in Acts 1 was not exactly the same, but they nevertheless also first missed the focus of the Great Commission. They were most concerned about Jesus’ restoring the kingdom of Israel, so their question to Jesus about the same had a political bent to it. Jesus’ focus, though, was on a different kind of power—a Holy Spirit presence that would empower the disciples and compel them to the ends of the earth. They were thinking political kingdom, but He was thinking gospel spread. When Jesus ascended out of their sight, the disciples then only stood there gazing.
The question of the angels to the disciples is a question we must ask of ourselves and of one another today: “Why do you stand looking up into heaven?” (Acts 1:11). When 4 billion+ people have little access to the gospel, and thousands die every day without Jesus, why would we stand just gazing into heaven? Why would we not just get about the work?
PERSONAL REFLECTION: What role are you playing in doing the Great Commission?
DAILY PRAYER: “Father, I look forward to heaven, but I want to be found faithful today.”
MONDAY’S READINGS:
One-year plan: 1 Chronicles 27-29, Acts 2:1-13
Two-year plan: Deuteronomy 25-26, Luke 3:21-38
