Thought of the Day !!

When he (Jesus) came to the village of Nazareth, his boyhood home, he went as usual to the synagogue on the Sabbath and stood up to read the Scriptures. The scroll containing the messages of Isaiah the prophet was handed to him, and he unrolled the scroll to the place where it says:

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
for he has appointed me to preach Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim
that captives will be released,
that the blind will see,
that the downtrodden will be freed from their oppressors,
and that the time of the Lord's favor has come."

He rolled up the scroll, handed it back to the attendant, and sat down. Everyone in the synagogue stared at him intently. Then he said, "This Scripture has come true today before your very eyes!"

All who were there spoke well of him and were amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips. "How can this be?" they asked. "Isn't this Joseph's son?"
Luke 4:16-22 (NLT)

Everybody enjoyed hearing what Jesus had to say. They were "amazed by the gracious words that fell from his lips". He was basically giving a sermon on blessings and how he was going to be the one to bless them. Don't we all love to hear how we will be blessed?

But then Jesus says some things that these people don't want to hear. He tells them that the truth is that they will want to see him perform for them, but that they will never truly accept him. He knows this already. He tells them that no prophet is accepted in his own hometown, and that basically it was the same there.

They don't like this one bit. It angers them. And they form a mob. This local boy done good suddenly turns to a false prophet. The reason? He tells them what they don't want to hear. He tells them the truth that they want to deny. And this is what happens.

When they heard this, the people in the synagogue were furious. Jumping up, they mobbed him and took him to the edge of the hill on which the city was built. They intended to push him over the cliff, but he slipped away through the crowd and left them.
Luke 4:28-30 (NLT)

I wonder how many times Christians have been respected and then turned on by their own church family when they've stood up for what is right, yet unpopular. And I wonder how many times they were mobbed and run out of the church.

The cold hard truth is not always easy to hear. But if we aren't willing to listen and try to hear, we will turn out like the people of Nazareth whom Jesus left.

Always be willing to question your theology, your faith, your traditions. One of two things will happen. You will find out that what you believed is actually wrong. And wouldn't we want to know the truth that God has for us? Or you will find out that you were right all along, but now have a deeper sense of understanding why.

Question these things with open-mindedness and prayer, and you will begin to grow. And God will share more and more wisdom with you.

In the love of Christ,
greg