Seeds of Joy - Looks Can Be Deceiving

“Jesus then said to His disciples: ‘If anyone wishes to come after me, they must deny their very self, take up their cross, and begin to follow in my footsteps. Whoever would save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.’” Matthew 16:24-25 Sometimes, things are not what they seem. Imagine, for example, if Jesus had asked for a consultation when he was picking His disciples. The way they looked on paper could have been concerning. The process might have gone a little like this: To: Jesus, Son of Joseph, Woodcrafter, Carpenter Shop, Nazareth Dear Sir: Thank you for submitting the resumes of the 12 men you have picked for management positions in your new organization. All of them have now taken our battery of tests; we have not only run the results through our computer, but we have also arranged personal interviews for each of them with our psychologist and vocational aptitude consultant. It is the staff opinion that most of your nominees are lacking in background, education, and vocational aptitude for the type of enterprise you are undertaking. They do not have the team concept. We would recommend that you continue your search for persons of experience in managerial ability and proven capability. To be more specific: Simon Peter is emotionally unstable and given to fits of temper. Andrew has absolutely no qualities of leadership. James and John, the sons of Zebedee, place personal interest above company loyalty. Thomas demonstrates a questioning attitude that would tend to undermine morale. Matthew (we feel that it is our duty to tell you) has been blacklisted by the Greater Jerusalem Better Business Bureau. James, the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus definitely have radical leanings, and they both registered a high score on the emotional-issues scale. One of the candidates, however, shows great potential. He is a man of ability and resourcefulness, meets people well, has a keen business mind and has contacts in high places. He is highly motivated, ambitious, and responsible. We recommend Judas Iscariot as your controller and right-hand man. All of the other profiles are self-explanatory. We wish you every success in your new venture. Sincerely, Jordan Management Consultants, Jerusalem We can all be very glad that Jesus knew what He was doing and didn’t need a test to verify it. Our biggest test today might just be this: Are we allowing the opinion of others to overshadow what we believe Jesus is telling us? It’s so easy to hear others’ voices and thoughts over the whispers of our faith. Today, put your trust firmly and faithfully in Jesus. He is the one person you can always be confident is exactly what He seems to be. Watering the Seeds: Remember a time when you let others guide your decisions instead of taking it to prayer. What can you do today to more actively seek the word of God in your decisions?