Daily Devotional • October 23
A Reading from Luke 10:17-24
17 The seventy-two returned with joy, saying, “Lord, in your name even the demons submit to us!” 18 He said to them, “I watched Satan fall from heaven like a flash of lightning. 19 Indeed, I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing will hurt you. 20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
21 At that very hour Jesus rejoiced in the Holy Spirit and said, “I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and have revealed them to infants; yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 22 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is except the Father or who the Father is except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”
23 Then turning to the disciples, Jesus said to them privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! 24 For I tell you that many prophets and kings desired to see what you see but did not see it and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.”
Meditation
Instead of rejoicing in our power (because whatever power we have, it is not truly ours), Jesus encourages his followers to rejoice in their redemption and in God’s mercy. Christ models this by humbling himself before God the Father, recognizing his position, and rejoicing in his sonship.
To be clear, when Jesus notes that the Father has “hidden these things from the wise and the intelligent and [has] revealed them to infants,” He’s not promoting anti-intellectualism. Instead, he’s reassuring those who are poor and needy for whom the brokenness of this world feels particularly burdensome. Unlike the way in which this broken world works — where those who are most important, most educated, most wealthy, and most powerful are preferred by kings and by the gods of other religions — our God actually prefers the poor and needy. He prefers those who are willing to humble themselves before God and approach as a child. Children have nothing to brag about. They are eager to learn and grateful for whatever they are given. Children are aware of their lack of power and inability to care for themselves. They’re aware that they can’t know or do everything.
How could you bring your neediness to the Lord today? What practical steps could you take to put yourself in a position to receive from the Lord?
Pieter Valk is a licensed professional counselor, the director of EQUIP, and cofounder of the Nashville Family of Brothers, an ecumenically Christian brotherhood for men called to vocational singleness.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for:
The Diocese of Kanyakumari – The Church of South India (United)
Church of St. Edward the Martyr, New York
Pieter Valk is a Guest Writer. He is a speaker, author, consultant, and licensed counselor.
