“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (Matthew 10:16-20)
We are to be shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves in the midst of the world’s people. What does this mean? We have to be on our guard against the evil schemes of the worldly. To be shrewd as a snake is to be acute, canny, perceptive, alert, discerning, aware. To be innocent as a dove means we are to be guiltless, harmless, above suspicion, blameless, safe, trusting, childlike, honest. These adjectives are very different, but not opposites so one can be shrewd and innocent. Yeshua is preparing us for worldly interaction, unjust persecution, false accusation, groundless charges. In such situations, we are to be confident and surrendered to Him as He works His will through us.
This could be taken wrongly as a suggestion we can prepare ourselves for every situation and can match wits with the world. To be clear, our path as followers of Yeshua is to keep in step with the Holy Spirit, to surrender to God’s rule and lead. If we rely on our reasoning we will probably resist being arrested or anything that seems unpleasant. As we believe God watches over us and directs affairs which affect us, we can trust Him in the midst of difficulty and hardship.
Part of worldly reasoning is trusting or relying on man instead of God. We can see this in politics, as worldly people have gained powerful positions and are promoting wickedness all across our society. If we act out of our own rationale a political solution would seem appropriate. However, the degree, extent and speed with which all this woke ideology has come suggests it is a Spiritual conflict, rather than temporal. “For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” (2 Corinthians 10:3-4) We are to use our minds and physical faculties in pursuit of God, but not primarily as our trust and faith must be fully in God. He calls us to go beyond our temporal limits to accomplish His supernatural purposes.
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