Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Calling and Selection of disciples
Luke 6: 12 - 17
 V.12: One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God’.
The Christian Church was officially formed when the Lord announced the names of the Apostles. He accomplished His earthly ministry in the span of a few years. The continuation of the ministry was entrusted to the Apostles. He chose them deliberately from common walks of life. According to the Jewish tradition, the disciples would choose their master, but here, the Master chose the disciples. Jewish Rabbis used to court disciples of noble birth and esteemed scholarship. However, Lord Jesus cultivated a new tradition by welcoming the marginalized in the society to His ministry.
    
The purpose of the appointment was three-fold: (1) Preaching the Gospel (2) Teaching the values of the Kingdom of Heaven (3) Healing the sick and the disabled. As the history of the church unfolded, we see that the gospel grew and spread to the most extreme parts of the world. In early days, the preaching consisted of interpreting the available scriptures in the context of the glorious ‘Messianic Kingdom’ the Jews hoped for. The Apostles and early preachers worked hard to find inroads to the ‘Old Testament’ from the then present reality of the Messiah, Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry was inundated with miraculous healing. The disciples also, during their ministry, demonstrated the healing touch of the gospel many times such as in Acts 3:7.
    
Another aspect of God’s calling is that it is without repentance (Romans 11:29). It is impossible to resist God’s will and His calling. Saul was forcefully converted to become a disciple of Christ by God and there was nothing he could have contributed to it – Acts 9:15.
    
Jesus demands complete submission and true devotion from his disciples. He demands us to “pick up our cross daily and follow Him”. We are demanded to also love Him beyond our earthly relatives. We will realize in due time that such devotion peaks itself in denying of oneself. Once the Holy Spirit takes control, fierce battle takes place between the carnal self and the spirit. For the surpassing worth of knowing Christ, the disciples should put to death all passions and desires of natural self – Galatians 5:24.
    Persecutions and losses are quite natural in a disciple’s life in this world. But through it all, the grace of God is sufficient to lead him/her to the eternal destination. Jesus called His disciples as salt and light of the world. Such Christian character is formed in the crucible of ardent prayer and meditation of the Word of God. Trials and tribulations refine such character and strengthen us to go forward.
PRAYER
Lord, we pray that You include us too in Your glorious mission and fill us with Your Holy Spirit to carry out our part according to Your will.
 
Thought for the day
“When all is said and done, the life of faith is the unending struggle of the spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Abraham Mammen
Epiphany Mar Thoma Church, New York

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