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Jesus sent out the twelve apostles with these instructions: 
"Don't go to the Gentiles or the Samaritans, but only to the people of Israel - God's lost sheep. 
Go and announce to them that the Kingdom of Heaven is near. 
Heal the sick, raise the dead, cure those with leprosy, and cast out demons. 
Give as freely as you have received!
Matthew 10:5-8 NLT
This is the start of a long set of instructions given to the apostles who Matthew names and who Jesus had just specifically empowered. 
This has a different feel to Jesus commission in Matthew 28 to go to the whole world.
What can we learn?
God has a heart for the lost. 
Jesus is at the centre of it all.
His mission is restoration of what's been broken, spiritually, physically, even death itself will be restored to life. 
I wonder why he mentions leprosy - my guess is that the person with leprosy is excluded, kept apart, treated as unclean, untouchable, so this is about relational restoration where we are welcomed in, embraced, held. 
God wants us to live generously. 
How can I live generously today?
Be part of the restoration project today?
Does my heart look out to see and seek the lost? Those who need a shepherd, the Good Shepherd?
#wordsofJesus 
#redletterBible
#restoration 

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