June 20
Mark 6:14-16
Have you ever known something was true, but you so badly wanted it to not be true that you tried to reason your way around it? I do this every time I start to get symptoms of a cold. Even though I KNOW that I am getting sick, I really don’t want to get sick. So I think “maybe my throat is sore because of the air conditioner, maybe my head hurts because I didn’t get enough sleep, etc.” This is what I was reminded of when reading today’s passage. By this time, word of Jesus’ miracles and teachings had been spreading. Kind Herod and some other people were trying to explain why Jesus might have this power. They didn’t want to believe that maybe Jesus was telling the truth and maybe He really was the Son of God. So instead they thought of every thing they could to reason around the truth. They thought he could be Elijah, or a prophet, or had powers in Him because John the Baptist had been raised from the dead. (I don’t really see how any of those ideas are less crazy than Him being the Son of God!) People do this today, too. A lot of people believe that Jesus was real, but that He was just a good man. We know that He was and is SO much more than just a good man! “And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace!” (Isaiah 9:6b) Don’t get it twisted!!
Principle: Willful ignorance and deliberate unbelief try to account for Jesus Christ in any way but the right way.
Application:
1. How do I explain to myself and others who Jesus is?
2. Do my actions cause others to ponder the person and work of Jesus?
3. How much time daily do I give to knowing Him through His Word?
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There is no middle of the road. You cannot say Jesus was just a good man. Jesus said many things about himself including "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father except through me." which forces us to choose -- he is either who he says he is or he is a complete lunatic.
ReplyDeleteHere is a Saturday morning totally non-spiritual observation --
ReplyDeleteI love the security words that we are asked to key in when posting a comment. Instead of just a random string of letters they have the right combination of consonants and vowels to be words. My thought - this would be a good name generator for women that feel obligated to give their baby a unique name never before used in the history of the world. I have had security words recently like vowea, oudatif, ovolit, and prossie. So I can imagine an announcement like this - Vowea Ovolit Jones, 8lbs, 2oz. Or how about Prossie Oudatif Smith. See what I mean??
That is so funny, Bob. Now I'll be looking at the security words in a different way!
ReplyDeleteMy thought today was that I needed and wanted to get my Bible study done Before I went out to do the million errands that are on my plate today! I believe that this study has made a tremendous difference in the amount of time I spend in His word and the amount of time I spend talking to Him and thinking back on the study questions and all of the great answers everyone has given. Thank you Sarah for doing this study
I am reminded of the times in past when I knew something was a sin but I allowed the reasoning of others make it not sound so bad. Or I myself came up with lies of why it is okay to do this.
ReplyDeleteYes, human come up with some stupid things on their own. I am glad I look more to Christ and rely less on people to make decision. It goes back to believing and having faith that He can and will direct all you decisions.