Day 23: Luke 11:24-36

In the previous verses, we saw Jesus drive out a demon.  Many of the people, perhaps like many of us, were amazed or disturbed by what they were witnessing.  

Today’s reading picks up with Jesus speaking to the crowds.  

Take a moment and prepare your heart for God’s Word:

“When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ 25 When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. 26 Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first.”

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out, “Blessed is the mother who gave you birth and nursed you.”

28 He replied, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

It’s hard to imagine a bigger blessing than knowing Jesus personally, than being intimately related to him.  But Jesus says the blessing is for those of us who hear God’s word and obey it.

What has God been saying to you recently?

What does it look like to obey those words? 

Ask Jesus today to help you experience His blessing by obeying His words to you.  

29 As the crowds increased, Jesus said, “This is a wicked generation. It asks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah. 30 For as Jonah was a sign to the Ninevites, so also will the Son of Man be to this generation. 31 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater than Solomon is here. 32 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and now something greater than Jonah is here.

33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. 35 See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. 36 Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you.”

The purpose of light is to illuminate the darkness.  

Take a moment and look inside yourself.  Are there corners of your soul that are in darkness?  Parts of you that are fearful, or ashamed, or burdened and alone? 

Now visualize the Spirit of Jesus as a light within you - a warm, flickering candle. Imagine the glow of His light shining into the darkest places of yourself - places that maybe no one has seen.  And feel the warmth and comfort as His light spills into you.  

As you go about your day today, ask Jesus to let that light spill out of you and into those around you.