Luke 6:12-16
12 It was at this
time that He went off to the mountain to pray, and He spent the whole night in
prayer to God.
At this time actually means in these days. Remember what we have been seeing about
Jesus. He has healed the man with the
withered hand on the Sabbath. Large
crowds are following Him from all over – from
Jesus was about to make a big decision – who, out of all these people following Him, would He choose to be His disciples?
Notice He spends the entire night in prayer. He wasn’t going to stop until He knew what the Father’s will was. When you have a big decision to make, why would you not approach your Father in prayer before making it?!
Prayer should always precede decisions regarding the will of God. We often expect God to immediately answer our questions, but we have to realize that His timing is always better than our timing. It took Jesus all night to learn what the Father’s will was regarding the 12! Until God makes His will clear to us, we must wait on Him for the wisdom to do what God would have us do. God will always let you know what His will is when you need to know it!
James 1:5
5 But
if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and
without reproach, and it will be given to him.
Back in Luke 6:
13 And when day came,
He called His disciples to Him and chose twelve of them, whom He also named as
apostles:
After finding out what the will of His Father was, He heads down the mountain, and calls all the disciples together. Then He does 2 things: He chooses 12, and then He NAMED them. The word ONOMAZO means to bestow a name or title on someone. They were to become the APOSTOLOS, the one who is entrusted with a message and sent out to represent someone, like an ambassador or envoy. What a great honor and responsibility!
14 Simon, whom He
also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James
and John; and Philip and Bartholomew;
15 and Matthew and Thomas;
James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon who was called
the Zealot;
16
Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.
These are the men who were chosen by the Lord Jesus Christ to represent Him. They are going to be His constant companions, and will get to know Him intimately. He will reveal things to them that He doesn’t reveal to others. They will be entrusted to teach and to communicate with authority Jesus’ message. They will also be given power to perform miracles, to validate themselves as messengers.
If the Lord had selected you that day, what kind of attitude would you have?
Would it be arrogant? “Wow, I’ve been picked over all the other students! I’ll have a great position in heaven now!”
Or would it be humble? “Lord, I’m a sinner, and I don’t know how You can use me, but I can’t wait to see!”
Only the humble attitude results in dependence on the Lord, and therefore the ability to do His will.
If you want to be removed from this list, just reply. If someone wants to be added, just forward a message to them, and have them email me the address to: mal@malatkinson.com
You can also view the archives at: www.biblestudy.malatkinson.com
This information is transmitted to the individual or entity to which it is addressed; however, it does not contain anything privileged or confidential. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of or taking action in reliance upon this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is strongly encouraged. If you have received this email in error, you are more than welcome to use it in any way you see fit.