Matthew 10:40-42 A Cup of Water
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 13, 2019, Matthew 10:40-42
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.
“Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me. The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward. And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”
(Understanding the Text) Jesus has been speaking about all the people who would reject His disciples because of Him, but now He turns it around and tells them that there will be people who will receive them and accept them. He is telling them not to be tentative about giving the gospel to anyone because He promises rewards to all the people who accept the message they give. Sometimes, I worry about giving the message of Jesus to my students or Muslim friends because of the problems that I know they would face if they accepted Jesus into their hearts. I know that that sword might be literal for some of them. Jesus is giving a promise here that He is worth the problems, and that I should not be tentative because I worry about the results of my witness. I am not hurting anyone by sharing Jesus with them even when it looks like they will be or are hurt because Jesus will reward them.
Jesus is also telling me that I will be rewarded for receiving the people of God He sends my way and giving them comfort and consolation. He is saying that He thinks it is important to give support to His workers and that when I support them and encourage them, I receive the same reward that they receive. It is important for me to treat Jesus’ workers with kindness and love so that when they leave me, they are refreshed and ready to keep working for Him. I think I can handle this aspect better. A lot of times I do not value the support that I do which seems to come naturally to me, but here Jesus is saying that that support is counted the same as the results of the person that I am supporting. If I support an evangelist and he wins souls to Christ, then I am counted as having been a soul winner. If I provide solace to the person who feeds the hungry, then I am counted as having fed the hungry.
(Application) Guzik’s commentary says “What could seem more insignificant than giving a person a cup of cold water? In a short time, they will be thirsty again. Yet, even such a small gesture will always be remembered and rewarded by God.” He answers a thought that has bothered me in the past and caused me not to value my own kindnesses–the actions do not have permanent results, and the person falls back into negativity. Yes, they will be thirsty again, or attacked by Satan again, or sin again, or hurt again, but God values the act that I did to temporarily alleviate their pain as if the healing lasted forever.
(Revelation of God / Prayer) Jesus is also telling us that heaven’s priorities are not the same as the world’s. In the world, we look for the big and flashy achievements, but Jesus says that God looks for the little acts of kindness, like giving a child a glass of water. These are the achievements that Jesus wants from us–to demonstrate His love to each other in little ways, as well as big. I keep looking at the flashy achievements that the church puts in front of my face–baptism count, size of the congregation, established programs, the community’s approbation, but the problem with those is that I also see that they are empty of human touch, or maybe I should say sanctified human touch. Jesus speaks here of achievements and rewards in terms of reception and kindness, not aggressive pushing advancement. I think that in many cases, the church has gotten too big for itself and looks at programs as the answer. They don’t look at touching individuals around you with love as success; they look at campaigns and numbers as success. You keep telling me to ignore their message and just stand where You place me, but I keep getting distracted, like I have spiritual ADD. I pray to continue to stand where You place me and let You lead me and follow where You go and let You worry about the destination and route to get there. I pray to trust You and to provide loving support to those You have given me.