Today I want to share from Andrew Womack's devotional "One Year With Jesus in the Gospels".
THE COST OF LIVING FOR CHRIST
Luke 9:58 "And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of
the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head."
This verse has often been used to support the misconception that Jesus
and His disciples lived in poverty. However, in this instance, the fact that
Jesus had nowhere to lay His head was because of persecution. The Samaritans,
because of a religious prejudice, had just refused Him hospitality and a place
to stay as He journeyed to Jerusalem. Persecution is part of the cost of living
a Christian life. Jesus was communicating to this man that not having a place
to stay at times was part of that cost.
There are many forms of persecution. Having your life threatened
because of your faith in Jesus is one way you can be persecuted, but it is not
the most damaging. History shows that the Church has always flourished under
persecution with increased numbers and zeal. During intense, life-threatening
persecution, people's priorities get straightened out and the Lord assumes His
rightful place. This always works for our good, regardless of what our outward
circumstances might be.
A far more deadly form of persecution is men simply speaking evil of
you or separating you from their company. It's more deadly because it's more
subtle.
Many who would never directly deny the Lord will fall into self-pity or
strife because of someone's criticism. This will render one just as ineffective
as a negative reaction to having one's life threatened would.
It helps to recognize that it is not you that they are persecuting, but
rather Christ in you. You are actually becoming a partaker of His sufferings
and will share His rewards. With this in mind, we can actually shout and leap
for joy in persecution.
First of all, I love that he addresses the wide misconception that Jesus was financially poor! Nothing could be further from the TRUTH! Jesus began his childhood with an abundance of gifts given by the caravans of visitors from the East that brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh! All of these things were of very high value in those days and would have been more than enough to support the family for the years that they had to live in Egypt away from Joseph's business as a 'carpenter'! Rick Renner has a fascinating section on this word in his Sparkling Gems From The Greek Volume 2 (March 11th). Here is a portion of that:
The remarkable city of Sepphoris also became the center of trade and
commerce in the northern region of Israel, and it was one of the largest
banking centers of the Middle East. Because of the extreme wealth of this city,
it had facilities that would normally be associated only with larger cities,
such as a huge theater that had a constant array of dramatic presentations. The
city had scores of beautiful upper-class villas to accommodate the wealthy
people who lived there, and it was adorned with some of the finest mosaics that
existed in the First Century. In fact, even today one can see some of the
finest examples of early mosaics lying in the ancient ruins of Sepphoris.
This city was exquisite in every way. Sophisticated and wealthy, it
attracted visitors from around the world. Every day one could experience a wide
range of different cultures, ethnic groups, and customs. People could be heard
speaking Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic in the streets. It was a tri-lingual city
known for being open-minded and for having an emphasis on learning, education,
and business. This city was so splendid that it influenced the entire region of
Galilee.
Three miles away was Nazareth, a small village occupied mostly by
workers who were employed in the enhancement of Sepphoris. It was here that Jesus
grew up with His parents. Jesus’ father was a carpenter, from the Greek
word teknos — a term that describes not a carpenter as we think of
that profession, but a highly skilled craftsman who works in stone. Or it
could even be used to depict a construction-site supervisor. Considering
the likelihood that a little town such as Nazareth would not have much work
available for a man with these skills, it is likely that Joseph was involved in
the high level of construction taking place in nearby Sepphoris.
So Joseph,and then Jesus, as He worked with Joseph, would have been a highly sought after and very skilled craftsman! JESUS had clothes that were valuable enough to gamble over and enough operating capital in His ministry that He needed someone to handle the money! No, He was NOT poor, but He "made Himself poor, for our sakes"! Another point that Andrew Womack makes in his devotional is that it is much harder for people to deal with the persecution that comes from people speaking evil of you and from your reputation being slandered. When your life is threatened, nothing else matters! But, when your day to day living is challenged, there is much more likelihood of the thoughtlife giving you problems that can be "hard to deal with and hard to bear"! BUT, the rewards for suffering this type of persecution, as JESUS most certainly did, (even His own family thought He was in need of rescuing!), are very great indeed! So, let's continue to daily 'shout and leap for joy at this type of persecution'! Here, to help you do just that, is Hillsong Young and Free with "Brighter"Shalom in Him!
