Matthew 10:29-33 Two Sparrows for a Penny
Format for Your Devotions
Instructions: Do not read my example devotion until you have completed your own devotional time in the scriptures. Reading my thoughts first may limit your own understanding. Let the Holy Spirit speak to you alone before looking to see what anyone else has to say, whether it is me, a Bible commentary, or a friend. Let God speak to you before you let another person speak to you. I have provided a format, but modify it to fit your needs. For example, I usually combine my application and prayer together talking to God about the application to my own life. You can go through this devotion process mentally, speaking out loud, or in writing as you wish. Don’t worry if you are not following this process exactly. Sometimes, I add extra information and sometimes I emphasize one part more than others. However, you should always think about what you learn about God from this passage.
Step 1: Pray–Ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance first of all and that God may reveal the lessons that He wants you to have that day. Request that God protect you from Satan’s distractions (and the devil will try to distract you whether it is pinching the baby or putting you to sleep). Ask to see God more clearly as you read and think about the passage.
Step 2: Read the passage–Read to get an overview of the information first. Then start looking at specific parts after the first reading. You may read a larger or smaller section than I have here because you do not have to follow my organization at all.
Step 3: Understand the passage–You can summarize, ask and answer your own questions about the passage, visualize the story, analyze the characters, and relate this passage to other scriptures and personal experiences.
Step 4: What does this reveal about God?–What do you learn about the Father, Son, and/or Holy Spirit from this passage?
Step 5: Apply this to your own life.
Step 6: Prayer
My Example Devotion: March 11, 2019, Matthew 10:29-33
Note: In the devotion examples, I leave my questions and thought processes in the text because I am trying to demonstrate that a devotional time is a dialogue with God about what you are reading from His word. As such, any questions or ideas that you have should be explored by talking it out with God. These example devotions are not my attempts to teach you what the meaning of a particular scripture is. They are an attempt to teach you the process of devotions, which is a combination of prayer and Bible study where you explore ideas with God as you read His word.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.
(Understanding the Text) The Cambridge Bible commentary says “one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father] Two deductions may be drawn—(1) That human life is more precious in God’s sight than the life of the lower animals (Mat_10:31); (2) That kindness to animals is part of God’s law. The word translated sparrow means any kind of small bird.”
(Application / Prayer) I think that denying Jesus before men is more than just saying that we don’t follow Him or know Him or believe in Him. I think we can deny Jesus with the way we live our lives and with the conversation that we choose to have with others that promotes ideas and/or activities that contradict Jesus’ teaching and way of life. This goes back to the theme that you will reap what you sow. I pray to sow Your love and the knowledge of who You are to others. I know that I have a hard time having faith in this promise. It’s hard for me to trust that You care about me so intimately that You know every part of me and still love me. I still bear the scars of being “loved” in my marriage yet not accepted, of being known and rejected. I don’t have the experience of someone caring so deeply about me that they are interested in all the details of who I am and what I do. Others experience this, so in theory I know mentally that it is possible. I know that You are not a liar, so mentally I accept that You love me, but it is not real to my heart. Please make it real to me so that I know You love me to that level because I still feel and, in my heart, believe that I am lost in the herd and not loved totally. I will never be able to love others without reservation as long as I don’t know Your total love. Help me to trust in You and Your love.
(Revelation of God) Meyer wrote some beautiful words about these verses. “Remember that in all your anxiety and pain, the Father is near. His presence encloses you in its gentle, holy embrace. You are of value to Him, of more value than you can count, because you were purchased with the precious blood of Christ.” Barnes says “He has fixed the number; and, though of small importance, yet he does not think it beneath him to determine how few or how many they shall be. He will therefore take care of you.”
(Understanding the Text) Barnes gives some Bible verses that mention sparrows and have the idea of God’s protection and the joy of being connected to God and also comparing a lone sparrow to the loneliness of being persecuted by others. In the first, the Psalm shows that even sparrows share in the joy of being close to God in His house. In the second, the Psalm emphasizes that the mighty God does not despise the prayers of the lowly, but instead He listens and cares even when we feel lonely and rejected like a little bird sitting alone on a housetop. Both of these Psalms have meaning in Jesus’ words in Matthew 10. Some commentators, like Clark, try to go to Jewish traditions and explain Jesus using a common saying, but I think that Jesus’ concept of sparrows had more to do with these Psalms than any Jewish folktales about rabbis sitting and watching someone catch sparrows. Here are the Psalm references:
Psalm 84:1-12
“To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of the Sons of Korah. How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God. Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house, ever singing your praise! Selah Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion. As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools. They go from strength to strength; each one appears before God in Zion. O LORD God of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O God of Jacob! Selah Behold our shield, O God; look on the face of your anointed! For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does he withhold from those who walk uprightly. O LORD of hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in you!”
Psalm 102:1-28
“A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD. Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to you! Do not hide your face from me in the day of my distress! Incline your ear to me; answer me speedily in the day when I call! For my days pass away like smoke, and my bones burn like a furnace. My heart is struck down like grass and has withered; I forget to eat my bread. Because of my loud groaning my bones cling to my flesh. I am like a desert owl of the wilderness, like an owl of the waste places; I lie awake; I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop. All the day my enemies taunt me; those who deride me use my name for a curse. For I eat ashes like bread and mingle tears with my drink, because of your indignation and anger; for you have taken me up and thrown me down. My days are like an evening shadow; I wither away like grass. But you, O LORD, are enthroned forever; you are remembered throughout all generations. You will arise and have pity on Zion; it is the time to favor her; the appointed time has come. For your servants hold her stones dear and have pity on her dust. Nations will fear the name of the LORD, and all the kings of the earth will fear your glory. For the LORD builds up Zion; he appears in his glory; he regards the prayer of the destitute and does not despise their prayer. Let this be recorded for a generation to come, so that a people yet to be created may praise the LORD: that he looked down from his holy height; from heaven the LORD looked at the earth, to hear the groans of the prisoners, to set free those who were doomed to die, that they may declare in Zion the name of the LORD, and in Jerusalem his praise, when peoples gather together, and kingdoms, to worship the LORD. He has broken my strength in midcourse; he has shortened my days. “O my God,” I say, “take me not away in the midst of my days— you whose years endure throughout all generations!” Of old you laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will remain; they will all wear out like a garment. You will change them like a robe, and they will pass away, but you are the same, and your years have no end. The children of your servants shall dwell secure; their offspring shall be established before you.