A short reading and prayer for today
Jesus said, “Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves. So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.”
Matthew 10:16 NLT
When I lived in India I got used to snakes being a constant threat. Every few months we would hear about deaths caused by snakes in our area, and they understandably generated a good deal of fear. If you live in the presence of snakes you quickly come to respect their cleverness and shrewdness and Jesus invited his disciples to try to be like them. As they headed out on their mission they were going to face fierce opposition and so they would need to use their heads. Their opponents were going to do everything possible to stop their work and so they needed to find ways of outwitting them. They would need to be creative and determined, and constantly ready to adapt to new situations.
If Jesus had simply told his disciples to model their lives on the shrewdness of snakes they could have got the wrong impression. Snakes have never had a wonderful reputation! They are disliked for their slyness and cunning. Jesus balanced his observations about snakes by adding that, at the same time, his
disciples needed to be as harmless as doves. Doves immediately give us an image of peace and unity. The disciples needed to be transparently honest in their dealings with people. They needed to have unmixed motives and be known for being utterly straightforward.
What Jesus was saying was that the disciples needed to be like him. Jesus was incredibly wise in the way in which he handled his critics. Time and again they tried to trip him up but with a quiet word, a thoughtful story or a further question, Jesus managed to respond to them with wisdom and grace. However fierce his critics were, he was always the man of peace and, tough as it might be for us when we are challenged, we need to seek to walk on that same path.
QUESTION
In what ways do you need to be more shrewd and harmless?
PRAYER
Lord God, help me to be humble enough to learn from Jesus’ example. Amen