Sent Ones

"After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. And he said to them, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves. Carry no moneybag, no knapsack, no sandals, and greet no one on the road. Whatever house you enter, first say, 'Peace be to this house!'... The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me." - Luke 10:1-5, 16 ESV

The 'greet no one on the road' statement got me this morning. The disciples were to treat this like a business trip and not a vacation in that they weren't supposed to get sidetracked by social matters and not get around to talking about Christ.

They said this when they returned...

"The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, 'Lord, even the demons are subject to us in your name!' " - Luke 10:17 ESV

There is power in this focus of being 'sent ahead of Him' like a plough is sent into the fallow ground to get it ready for seed.

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