The Gospel of Luke

This devotional is written by Kat Karamani-Taylor. Kat is a primary school teacher who loves creating intense itineraries for upcoming holidays, singing karaoke with a dash of interpretive dance and is married to Mark.

46 An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. 47 Jesus, knowing their thoughts, took a little child and made him stand beside him. 48 Then he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For it is the one who is least among you all who is the greatest.'

49 ‘Master,' said John, ‘we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.'

50 ‘Do not stop him,' Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.'

Humble yourself:

This passage begins with an argument regarding who is greatest. It is so easy to be swept up into the competitive world around us, particularly in London. Those who know me know that I am an extremely competitive person but it is so important that we remember the bigger picture. We are nothing without Jesus; we should be cooperating and working together, rather than competing.

Welcome others:

I think that a key aspect of every day life that Jesus is focusing on in this passage is about our ability to welcome people. Jesus does not discriminate as to who he welcomes so I don't think we should either. I know that it can be scary at first to talk to new people and it's much easier to stick to our friends but welcoming people is so important and definitely something that we can all practise.

Unite:

I find what John says as quite funny; he is literally so clique-y that he tries to STOP someone from doing God's work simply because they're not part of his squad. We need to unite with each other and with other Christians to celebrate the work that God is doing rather than compete with one another.

Pray:

Lord, I pray that you would show us our strengths and enable us to use these gifts to collaborate with others. I pray that we can practise our welcoming skills and become better at allowing people into our lives and sharing with them. I pray for strength where we are afraid in either of those situations and that we would be so aware of your presence as we step outside of our comfort zone. Amen.