December 16, 2013

Read It:
When Jesus had come into the temple area,
the chief priests and the elders of the people approached him
as he was teaching and said,
“By what authority are you doing these things?
And who gave you this authority?”
Jesus said to them in reply,
“I shall ask you one question, and if you answer it for me,
then I shall tell you by what authority I do these things.
Where was John’s baptism from?
Was it of heavenly or of human origin?”
They discussed this among themselves and said,
“If we say ‘Of heavenly origin,’ he will say to us,
‘Then why did you not believe him?’
But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we fear the crowd,
for they all regard John as a prophet.”
So they said to Jesus in reply, “We do not know.”
He himself said to them,
“Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things.”

Reflect on It:
Again, we see that today we can't be of both worlds, serving two masters. Really, we're called to just love one master and to serve him. Jesus asks them boldly whether the origin of John's Baptism was earthly or heavenly. The crowd doesn't want to answer, scared to get it wrong and to be outcasts. Today, we're called to be all in. We can't serve two masters. So, who will you serve today?

Pray about It:
Sweet Jesus, I want to live in a way in which I am all in. Help me to do that today! Rejoice!

Live It! Challenge: Today, find something in your life you've been unwilling to give over to the Lord and give it to him.