When the sabbath came he began to teach in the synagogue,
and many who heard him were astonished.
When we are astonished at what Jesus tells us do we try to downplay it?
Is he not the carpenter, the son of Mary,
and the brother of James and Joseph and Judas and Simon?
Do we try to excuse ourselves from the full implications of his words?
And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil (see John 3:19).
We are invited to step into the light that the words of Jesus shine into our hearts. We must be like David, willing to have the problems of our lives exposed to God. We must be honest with the LORD for him to heal us. We must not run from him. We must not seek to justify ourselves in our own eyes.
Afterward, however, David regretted having numbered the people,
and said to the LORD:
"I have sinned grievously in what I have done.
But now, LORD, forgive the guilt of your servant,
for I have been very foolish."
This honesty honors the LORD who judges justly. It frees him to do the mighty deeds he desires to do in our hearts.
So he was not able to perform any mighty deed there,
apart from curing a few sick people by laying his hands on them.
He was amazed at their lack of faith.
The LORD preaches hope to us. But we tend to hear condemnation wherever change is required of us. We really want to hold on to our idols even though it is those very idols that cause our deepest pain. Let us welcome the LORD. Let us hear him with fresh ears, ready to listen to whatever he tells us, knowing that it is for our good.
Then I acknowledged my sin to you,
my guilt I covered not.
I said, "I confess my faults to the LORD,"
and you took away the guilt of my sin.
No comments:
Post a Comment