one step: Matthew 12.2

Stretch out your hand.

What a strange and cruel thing to say to someone with a powerless, shriveled hand. It’s like telling a cripple to get up and walk. It’s like telling a deadman to stand up and come out of a grave. Who would say such a thing?!

I can only imagine what the man with the withered hand must have thought. Perhaps he heard about Jesus and knew what Jesus could do. Maybe he sat there with great expectation, ready to do whatever Jesus asked him to do, knowing that obedience could lead to healing. Conversely, maybe the man had no knowledge of Jesus. Maybe the words of Jesus to stretch out his hand caused him pause. Maybe a short war inside had to weigh, “is this man cruel, intending to lead me to shame, or is there something more to Him than I see?”

God asks us to do impossible things every day that invite us to reach beyond our ability. The old adage, “God will never ask you to do more than you can handle” may make us feel better about our ability to cope with a situation, but it hardly applied to this man. His whole life was characterized and impacted by a lack of ability to stretch out his hand. His ability to work and thus his quality of life would have been obviously impacted by his inability to stretch out his hand.*

I would change that old adage to say, “God will never ask you to do more than He can give you the power to do.” What does He have the power to do? Anything. What might He ask us to do? Anything.

The days of relying on our own ability to cope must end. We aren’t very good at it after all. The things that we face are bigger than us. The miracles that God wants to do in and through us require us to reach our hand beyond our ability.

Jesus is not cruel because the things He asks of us do not end in shame, but they end in miracles!

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to reach out, step out, or get up even when it seems impossible. Perhaps God wants you to lay down your own ability to cope and pick up His power to overcome. Maybe you fear that the situation you are in will end in shame, but the heart of God is to partner with you to produce a miracle. Perhaps God is just waiting for us to hear Him, believe Him, and obey. Maybe God wants you to dare to expect Him to do something great.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Need prayer? We are happy to pray for you (ask for prayer here).

Feel free to comment at the bottom of this page! We would love to hear from you!

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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 305–308, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 12:9–14) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 12.1

And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.

Too often we take our traditions and doctrine and use them to condemn the people around us. Not knowing what Scripture actually says, or what God means by it, we completely disapprove of our fellow man (and even fellow believers).

In Matthew 12, Jesus of all people found Himself the victim of such behavior. The Pharisees accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by allowing His disciples to glean wheat while hungry on the Sabbath. Breaking the Sabbath in this way was seen as an execution-deserving sin.*

In the way that Jesus often did, He expanded the perspective of those willing to listen by telling them that they had it all wrong. Up until that moment, the Pharisees understood that people should serve the Sabbath by following every rule and prohibition enacted by their understanding of Scripture (tradition). This understanding caused them to see anyone who broke their traditions as guilty of breaking God’s law.

Jesus explained that to break tradition is not to break law, and that man was not made to serve the Sabbath. He corrected that the Sabbath was made for man.*

How often do we condemn others for not seeing things as we do? How often does our passion of “what should be” override and miss the heart of God? How many times have we condemned ourselves in the same way?

I have been the worst at judging others and judging myself for failing to measure up to an abbreviated list of God’s law that I thought I was good at upholding. Completely missing His heart and His authority, I created my own standards and my own understanding of His Word. This prideful foolishness caused me to miss what God would have me do on several occasions, and it caused me to miss out on some amazing people because I wrote them off by judging them.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to look to Him for His heart. Perhaps today God wants you to look back at His Word and not to just lean on others to tell you what it says. Maybe today God wants to reveal to you how the Sabbath is for you as is all of His law. Perhaps today God wants you to stop condemning others and yourself for not measuring up.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Need prayer? We are happy to pray for you (ask for prayer here).

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*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 298–302, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 12:1–21) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 11.4

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

It’s strange that Jesus’s answer to the need for rest is work. Think about it. Jesus doesn’t say, “come to me all who labor and are heavy laden… and take a nap.” He says, “take my yoke upon you and learn from me.” The call to discipleship extends beyond simple following. It’s not enough to follow Jesus, but we must learn from Him as well.

The cumbersome rules and traditions of humanity weigh down the most devout of servants, but Jesus invites us to walk with and learn from Him in a way that fits. We were made for this yoke. We were designed to walk under the teaching of Jesus. Imagine walking your whole life with large stones attached to your ankles. Walking through life would be a difficult, burdensome thing. Then one day, you see Jesus. He walks past you with easy and pleasure. With the sun kissing His shoulders and highlighting His smile, He says, “follow me and learn from me. Walk as I walk. Do as I do.”

Jesus cuts away the stones, and you step out of their weighty demand. All of the sudden, walking becomes a delight! You so enjoy walking and learning from Jesus that your heart wants to run! What once was burdensome and heavy has now become easy and light! Like a walk in the cool of the Garden of Eden, your walk with Jesus becomes a refreshing and reviving experience.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to cast aside those things that weigh you down. Perhaps Jesus is calling you to learn from Him in a way that looks like freedom and refreshment. Maybe Jesus is inviting you to walk as a child once again - carefree and light!

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Need prayer? We are happy to pray for you (ask for prayer here).

sign up just below for a daily reminder of the one step devotional. click here to return to devotional list.

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 291–298, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 11:25–30) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 11.3

Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent.

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” came off of the lips of John the Baptist and of Jesus with an urgency of imminence that calls all to respond to the person and message of Jesus. According to Matthew 11:20 and the few verses that come after it, the call to repentance comes with a weighty warning that confirms that our response to Jesus and His Kingdom impacts our eternity.

This level of importance should cause us to ask these important questions: do I need to repent? How do I repent?

Realizing your need for repentance is the result of seeing and hearing the works and words of the Kingdom and recognizing the gap between your broken, incomplete humanity and the wonder of His Kingdom.* This is why Jesus spoke grieving words over the cities that He performed so many miracles in yet had not repented. They saw the ways and heard the words of the Kingdom and did nothing.

Once we realize that we need to repent, the subsequent question of “how?” proves vital. To recognize the need and to do nothing may be worse than not seeing it at all. The Greeks of the time of Jesus understood repentance to be a change of mind. Some in our society today hold onto this and say things like, “change your mind; change your life.” Certainly changing the way you think will play out in your actions, but this change of an idea that the Greeks presented could have easily been a change for the worst as much as for the better.* Furthermore, a change in an idea today could face a change in idea tomorrow. There’s a lack of permanence and power in the Greek approach to repentance. Jesus, in His typical fashion, calls us to more.

Jesus defines repentance as a total change of total being. Jesus defines repentance as a revolution in the whole life. Repentance is not just a matter of being sorry; it’s a matter of transformation.* Like a caterpillar transforming into a butterfly, so too must we hide in Christ and emerge a completely different creature.

The miracle of repentance comes as we see that we need it and ask Jesus to change us. The miracle of repentance comes once we have recognized that our lives do not naturally represent or produce the Kingdom of Heaven. Repentance comes to those who ask and hide in Jesus. Only by His power can we change.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to recognize your need for repentance. Perhaps today is the day to stop trying to change your mind and to ask God for transformation in your whole being. Maybe today God wants to invite you to participate in the spreading of His Kingdom. Perhaps today it’s time to move past being sorry and to start reorienting your whole life.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Need prayer? We are happy to pray for you (ask for prayer here).

sign up just below for a daily reminder of the one step devotional. click here to return to devotional list.

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 287–291, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 11:20-24) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).

one step: Matthew 11.2

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’  The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds.

What kind of servant are you? John the Baptist came as a critic from outside of the culture looking in. Jesus came as a missionary within the culture. Both roles are necessary and both roles are biblical.*

The Pharisees looked at John and looked at Jesus and rejected both with faulty logic. John and Jesus could do no right in the eyes of the Pharisees because the Pharisees were committed to not receiving the truth.* Rejection does not just come from the Pharisees of our day, however. Servants of God criticize each other far too often. Those called to the wilderness condemn those called to the table while those called to the table alienate those called to the wilderness.

We must understand that God calls different people to different roles in different seasons to champion truth.

As a servant of God, if He calls you to stand on the outskirts of society and critique it, beware. Beware that critique does not turn into self-righteousness for self-righteousness is a dangerous deception (not one is righteous in and of themselves) that leads to pride and destruction. The voice in the wilderness must hold onto the heart of God of compassion and love.

If God calls you to sit in the middle of society to witness, beware. Beware that compromise does not sneak in while truth leaks out. The table is a place to influence, not be influenced. The voice in the culture must hold tight to what is truth and Who is truth.

Both of these roles can reject the other for lack of understanding, or each of these roles can support each other. The one at the table can share the heart of connection and compassion with the one in the desert; the one in the desert can remind and inspire passion for truth in the heart of the one at the table. We need each other in this mission.

The believer must understand when culture needs a critique and when culture needs a friend. Mistaking the season and your role can miss an opportunity to bring people to Jesus. In both cases, culture needs truth.

Today, take a step.

Maybe today the one step God wants you to take is to ask the Lord if He is calling you to the table with sinners or the desert with the repentant. Perhaps today God would ask you to repent for judging His servants that you did not understand. Maybe God wants you to see areas in your life where compromise has creeped in, truth has leaked out, or self-righteousness has taken hold. Perhaps God wants to step out and encourage someone who is called by God in a way different than you.

Whatever the step, ask God to direct it. Take a moment to take that step. Invite Him to speak. He will.

Life is a long road. Walk it with Jesus. Take a step today… just one is fine.

Need prayer? We are happy to pray for you (ask for prayer here).

sign up just below for a daily reminder of the one step devotional. click here to return to devotional list.

*Leon, Morris, The Gospel According to Matthew. Pillar New Testament Commentary (Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1992), 284-287, and Keener, C. S., Matthew (Vol. 1, Mt 11:16–19) (InterVarsity Press, 1997).