Micah Bemenderfer

July 31, 2023

Mark Mark

Passage Read: Luke 11-12
Meditation Verses: 12:32-34

Thought

Jesus is so radical! Sell all I have and give to the poor? Provide purses for myself that will not wear out, treasure in heaven? My heart will be in whatever I treasure? So if I treasure the things of earth, my heart will be settled on earth. But if I really trust that the kingdom of heaven will be given to me, that I will have some possession, perhaps even a great possession, in heaven, trusting so much that I willingly give away all I have on earth and live to do good as Jesus defines, then my heart will be settled in heaven. Heaven will be most important to me, and all I do will be to gain a greater reward there, which will bring Jesus all the more glory.

Application

I want my heart fixed on heaven, on eternity with Jesus. I want to serve and love Him, which means doing good to others and helping them know and grow more devoted to Jesus. But a few verses later, Jesus warns that doing that will bring division; He came to bring fire on the earth and wishes it were already kindled! He came to bring a sword that would even divide families. That seems so contrary to loving and serving people in order to gain treasure in heaven, except that what people want to receive and what God wants to receive are often not in alignment. So the cost of having a heart set on heaven is the loss of relationship with many of the people I want to love and serve. That's a hard price to pay, and makes me afraid to seek heavenly treasure and devote myself fully, this radically, to the Lord. I need to choose Jesus, and not fear how people respond to me. God help me!

You should also read: