May 1, 2016

Matthew 10:36, 37 NKJV (1) - "And a man's enemies will be those of his own household.  He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me.  And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me."

Commentary:

Where are your enemies?  Not that we want to look for any, but Jesus said something rather startling in our Daily Verse.  Some of our "enemies" will be in our own homes!  That's not something anybody wants to consider, but it's what Jesus said and something we need to understand.  (Now, I'm going to be commenting on verse 37 in my next Daily Verse, and that will explain more of what I'm only going to begin to comment on here).

What Jesus is referring to is far more than the "sibling rivalry" of our childhood.  It's far worse than even the aftermath of a nasty divorce.  And It is even worse than brother fighting brother in our American Civil War.  Jesus was talking about those in our households who hate Jesus enough to hate us if we turn to Him.  These are heart-wrenching experiences that many believers have had to face when they turned their lives over to Christ.  Their families refused communicating with these "converts" until they would renounce their faith in Jesus.  They even treated them as if they had died!

Do we love those who hate our Savior?  ASOLUTELY!!  We don't treat them as the "enemy!"  We recognize they're still caught up in Satan's lies and deceptions.  They are truly victims of the real enemy.  We pray so earnestly that God would help our families to see the joy of coming to Christ and believe the truth of God's Word.  We still seek to be pleasant and gracious to our families hoping that any kind gesture on our part will help to "open their eyes" to the wonderful truth of salvation in Christ.  Thank God if your family not only supports your faith in Christ, but that they have joined you in believing on Jesus!  But pray for those believers who have to deal with their family's anger and rejection.