Grace and peace be unto you.
“Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all” (2 Thessalonians 3:16)
The story is told that when Jesus’s earthly sojourn was nearing an end, he decided to go to Jerusalem. Hence, he sent messengers ahead to the Samaritan village so that the people would make preparations for him. Unfortunately, they were inhospitable, because he was heading to Jerusalem. When James and John saw what happened, they asked Jesus if they should call down fire from heaven to destroy the people. Jesus was not in agreement with their desires and rebuked them. Afterwards, he and his disciples went to another village (Luke 9:51-56).
Jesus knew the Samaritans and Jews were enemies, therefore he understood that their refusal to make preparations for him was prejudicial. They were displeased that he was going to Jerusalem and would have preferred he stayed in Samaria. It is interesting to note that Jesus did not try to reason with them and change their narrative. He recognized that their behavior arose from firmly held faulty beliefs which were steeped in tradition, and would take many years to change. And so, he ignored their behavior and went to another village.
Every day, the Lord has work for us to do (Ephesians 2:10). But if we are unaware of our assignments or do not exercise discipline, we will be distracted. The apostle Peter wrote, “Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (1 Peter 5:8). Nonetheless, when we are focused and certain of our tasks, we will ignore the behaviors and comments that are detrimental to our success. Furthermore, similar to Jesus, we will peacefully continue on our journey.
Born for a Purpose 