Title: A Perfect Disciple.

Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.

Matthew 10:16 KJV

Devotion: In the preceding chapters (5-9) Jesus selected the twelve among the multitude of his followers and taught them the words. He made a disciple of them and gave them power. In this chapter 10, Jesus sent them out to minister to the lost tribes of Israel; but because he knows what will happen he gave the instructions (Matt 10: 5-42) on how to conduct themselves and what they should do in various circumstances.

  Matthew chapter 10 is a good place to read and master before going out to minister the word of God. A disciple must be very knowledgeable, wise and prudent in management of time, human, material and financial resources, Paul is a good example in this wise. A disciple must be very discipline and must not be covetous(be harmless like a dove).

  These attributes are scarce these days and it takes a lot of discrete and prayerful search before such disciple can be found and posted to do the work of God. The church leaders can only achieve this through hard work, prayers and grace from God. 

  Church leaders must follow the example of Christ in training the young ministers thoroughly to make sure they understand that the work of God is not honey, bread and butter but self-denial, discipline, (1Timothy 3:1-end) hunger and lack(of worldly riches). Young ministers must understand that worldly riches will only come later after they must have been tested, tried and found worthy of their calling(Matthew 6:33). 

  Jesus must be the example of the perfect leader and apostles example of good disciples. Ministers of God must NOT follow in the footsteps of Judas Iscariot but follow Peter, James, John, Paul and the rest.

 Dear reader, kindly share your experiences on this topic with us. Hallelujah.

I am your friend Dr Joel Olanrewaju, visit us at ojaysjoel.blogspot.com for more devotionals.