IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!

If anyone would come after me, he mut deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. - Luke 9:23

READ LUKE 9:18-27 TODAY

     I remember giving the Purpose Driven Life to one of my friends at work.  She said, "Tony I can't read this."

     When I asked, "Why?" she replied, "Look at the first line - It's not about you!"  She couldn't come to grips with that statement..

     Really, how many of us can?  Really, if we're honest, how many of us wake up thinking about what somebody else is going to do that day?  How many of us think about all the things somebody else has to do?  How many of us think about what somebody else is going to have for dinner?

      Not me!  C'mon, not you either!

      But, I think what Jesus is asking us to do is consider that "It's not about us!"  I think He would want us to take baby steps toward not even thinking about ourselves.  There are a lot of keys in the "Treating People Like Jesus Does" keychain, but this is a biggie.  Our selfless attitude is where it all starts. 

CELEBRATE THE MEAL!

"Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each.".....They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. - Luke 9:14, 17

READ LUKE 9:1-17 TODAY

     Lot of neat little details here!  First, Jesus has them sit in groups of about fifty.  (Cool that he said "about."  I can just see the disciples counting off 1-2-3...ok, just get in a group!)  Second, The disciples picked up the leftovers.  Now, there were five-thousand people there.  I guess Jesus was not big into waisting food either.  Third, there were twelve basketfuls of leftovers.  Don't you think Jesus could have made just enough.  If He's powerful enough to produce it, you'd think He be knowledgable enough to know the quantities.

      Do you get what Jesus did?  He didn't just provide food for their bodies - he provided food for their souls.  He got people into groups, He gave them a lot of food!  Think about those groups of about fifty talking about what had just happenend.  Think about how they must have sat around for hours eating and sharing their thoughts.  Think about what Jesus did there......and then do it yourself!