Lessons From Matthew 10: Christ’s Call
It was a few years ago that I took my mom to her favorite quilt store to choose some material for her next masterpiece.
As I walked through the store I saw a beautiful quilt and inquired about it. This quilt was a sample for the upcoming class to be taught. I loved it and I loved the colors, so after asking my mom if she thought I could do this, I signed up for the class with her.
Between September and November we made 8-9 quilts. You see, I was clueless. I didn’t have a clue what it took not only financially, but also time wise to put together a full quilt from beginning to end. And so in my ignorance I thought it would be a great idea to give everyone a quilt for Christmas. I called them comfort quilts.
Well, my mom was very delighted that I had a desire to carry on this family tradition and so she never said that what I intended to do was impossible. She just came alongside me and helped me as we cut and sewed until each quilt was complete.
Yet once the quilt top was done, we were still far from finished. We still often times had to add borders and then the back had to be cut and sewn to fit. Then off it had to go to the quilter who would put the 2 pieces together and then return it to us to put the binding around the edges. This was completed by hand sewing it down around the full size of the quilt.
This took not only money, teaching, and direction from my mom, it took time and vision. Quilting, like many other things in life, is a process and it takes vision, perseverance, insight, wisdom, and an unrelenting determination to see the job through.
Many quilters start the art but never complete it, or they finish the top only to leave the quilt unfinished and thus unusable. Or they spend tons of money on the material, never to get to it, and thus miss the quilt’s full potential.
These next lessons in Matthew are meant to teach us that though there is a cost to following Christ, there are also comforts. We are to complete the jobs He has called us to do at whatever the cost because our comfort is found in Christ Himself. The busier we find ourselves in God’s purpose for our lives, the more of His presence we will find in every circumstance. Whether it be suffering trials, testing, opposition, persecution, or death.
Yes, there are certain costs and comforts in answering Christ’s call.
Beginning in chapter 10 we come to a turning point, and the second major discourse (talk or speech) in the book of Matthew. The first was to the multitudes of people, including the disciples. The theme was a general description of the gospel and Jesus’s view of contemporary Judaism found in chapters 5-7. This is known as the Sermon on the Mount, the first of Jesus’s public ministry.
Now Jesus turns His voice to His disciples only and the message here contains instructions for service. Obviously the disciples had matured through their contact with Jesus and were now ready to progress forward not only in their thinking but also in their ministry purposes.
Jesus was preparing them for their full call and potential and He was also preparing His church for centuries of service. This includes all who believe in Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. And so this includes all those who call themselves Christians.
This message is for you and me.
Terri Hamman
Faith & Fitness Coach