Matthew 10:2-7
King
James Version (KJV)
2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The
first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of
Zebedee, and John his brother;
3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the
publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was
Thaddaeus;
4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also
betrayed him.
5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them,
saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans
enter ye not:
6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of
Israel.
7 And as ye go, preach, saying, The kingdom of heaven is at
hand.
The Assembled
Number
I want to share one of my favorite English words with you
- triskaidekaphobia (pronounced tricks-a-deck-a-fobia in case it's a new word
for someone). I'm a word nerd and that is definitely a nerd's word.
The word refers to the fear of the number 13 and it seems
appropriate given our new year.
It's interesting how we fixate on things in
life...assigning luck, both good and bad to numbers and things, labeling things
as our songs, our jams. But this one, this fixation on the number 13 is of
special interest. There are buildings all over the world that don't have a 13th
floor. There are people who will do everything they can to avoid the number.
There are good 13's though. A 'baker's dozen' usually
means 13 and who doesn't want an extra cupcake? And there's this group that
started with Jesus. Everywhere they went together, it was a group of 13 when we
include our Savior. It's our habit in the Believer's world to talk about the
Twelve...but then as now, what were the disciples without their Teacher? What
are we without our Lord?
Simply put - we're lost.
I'm not superstitious (another favorite word). I don't
practice triskaidekaphobia. I have a black cat at home who crosses my path
everyday. But there are people who put their belief in these things...strongly.
There are people who are paralyzed without guidance from astrological writings
or who cannot function without consulting 'the bones'.
I serve a living Savior. There are those who would lump
this in the category above. The difference is there isn't a chicken foot or a
star alignment who willingly left Heaven, allowed Himself to be nailed to a
cross, got up from the grave and who sits at the right hand of the Father making
intercession for me. Living, breathing intercession on MY behalf. On your
behalf.
Thirteen is a wonderful number. So is two because the
Word testifies where two or more are gathered, Jesus in the midst of them
(Matthew 18:20). 100 is a favorite number because Psalm 100 calls for a joyful
noise that anyone can make. Three works too for the Father, the Son and the
Holy Spirit. One is incredible because there is One Lord, one faith and one
baptism (Ephesians 4:5).
I could go on.
Loved
ones, there will always be people who give more credence to the creation than
the Creator. I cannot, and wouldn't think to, change anyone's belief, but I can
share truth. And when we're each ready, Truth reveals itself to us.
I
hope that this is the luckiest year of your life and mine because I pray that
this year is the year we all go deeper. If that means meeting Christ for the
first time, then wonderful. If that means moving from a knowledge of Christ to
discipleship, all the better. If it means finally working in that calling that's
been assigned, PRAISE GOD! As long as it means more of Jesus by December 2013
than we know this January, then it's a great year.
The
number doesn't matter as long as Christ is the One.
Happy
New Year!
Lifeline
is produced from the Evangelistic Ministry of Fellowship
Church in
Jonesboro, GA. You are encouraged to share this message. The Fellowship Church
website (www.fcchosengeneration.com)
includes a link to the Lifeline Blog (www.lifelineatfellowship.blogspot.com)
where you can find previous messages.
Evangelist
Robinson also posts her entries on Facebook and Twitter. To subscribe to the
mailing, or for questions and comments, tweet (@evangeliststeff) or send email
to fellowship_lifeline@yahoo.com.
Fellowship Church can be reached at chosen.gen@att.net.
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