July 7: Matthew 6:7-13

Key Verse: Matthew 6:12
They went out and preached that people should repent.

Devotion:
Whenever I have heard people talk about Jesus sending the disciples out, they have focused on the things Jesus told them not to do: not to take anything with them, not to worry about supplies and payment, not to enter houses where they are not welcome… all the negative things. But what I picked up today when I read these verses was what the disciple actually did do!

They went out and preached that people should repent! Yes, they did the other things like driving out demons, anointing sick people, making people well and all the other things people focus on; but the core of this all was to get the people to see they had done something wrong in their lives and that they had to repent because of that. This is the first step in getting to a right place with God!

God wants you to know you have done something wrong so you can understand what it is which is keeping you apart from Him. Once we understand we have a problem, we can move forward by asking Him to forgive us. He has already promised us He will forgive us when we repent, so what is holding us back? Pride!

Once we get over ourselves we can step forward and start to make a good relationship with Christ; and it all start with us repenting!

Points to Ponder:
What do you think a disciple should do?

Where do we start to get into a relationship with Christ?