Prove It…Again

Today’s Reading:

• Luke 8:1-3; Mark 3:20-30; Matthew 12:22-45; Mark 3:31-35; Matthew 12:46-50; Luke 8:19-21; Mark 4:1-9; Matthew 13:1-9; Luke 8:4-8; Mark 4:10-20

Verse(s) to Ponder:

• One day some teachers of religious law and Pharisees came to Jesus and said, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority.” But Jesus replied, “Only an evil, adulterous generation would demand a miraculous sign; but the only sign I will give them is the sign of the prophet Jonah.” – Matthew 12:38-39, New Living Translation

Thoughts:
In the face of Jesus’ goodness, in the face of the wisdom and morality of His teachings, opponents still came and demanded that He perform a miracle to convince them that He was genuinely here as God’s representative.

It’s not as if they hadn’t been able to witness any of His other miracles already. And they had certainly heard His teachings. He wasn’t hiding anything.

No wonder Jesus called them out. No wonder he said that their hearts were evil and adulterous—that their inclination was to be unfaithful to their God.

And yet He still gave them a sign. The sign of Jonah—that is, the sign of His own death and resurrection.

How many of them responded to His sign? How many of us are just the same as they were, rejecting Jesus despite everything He’s done and demanding another sign?

Note: I have obviously been less than consistent about posting devotional thoughts for a while now, so I’m not going to claim that I’ll be consistent for the next few months, or that the blog will be centered around a certain theme (it was supposed to deal with faith-stretching verses this year). I just hope that these thoughts are still an encouragement to you, whenever they come your way.

Hope on Judgment Day

Today’s Reading:

• Matthew 8:5-13; Luke 7:1-17; Matthew 11:1-19; Luke 7:18-35; Matthew 11:20-30; Luke 7:36-50

Verse(s) to Ponder:

• Then Jesus began to denounce the towns where he had done so many of his miracles, because they hadn’t repented of their sins and turned to God. “What sorrow awaits you, Korazin and Bethsaida! For if the miracles I did in you had been done in wicked Tyre and Sidon, their people would have repented of their sins long ago, clothing themselves in burlap and throwing ashes on their heads to show remorse. I tell you, Tyre and Sidon will be better off on judgment day than you.” Matthew 11:20-22, New Living Translation

Thoughts:

Is God unfair?

Some people are born into Christian communities and hear God’s Word from a young age; others are born into communities that worship false gods. When Judgment Day comes, will God punish the people who had little to no chance to hear about Him just because of their circumstances?

All around the world, some people get to experience God’s miracles and some see visions sent from heaven; others feel like they would like to believe in God, but because they have never experienced this kind of evidence, they aren’t convinced that any of the stories about miracles and visions are true. No one they know has ever seen anything truly miraculous. When Judgment Day comes, will God judge the people who never saw a miracle on the same standards as those who did, as though they had the same opportunity to understand His wonderful nature?

No. Not according to what Jesus says in Matthew 11:20-22.

Jesus performed a number of miracles in some places, and yet many of the people who experienced His miracles did not renounce their sins and turn to God. I can’t even comprehend why they would not have responded to Jesus after seeing His miracles, but they didn’t (which is a sobering reminder that our hearts are more rebellious than we would like to admit, and that even those of us who claim that we would believe in Jesus if He would only give us more evidence may be deceiving ourselves). And Jesus compares them to others, essentially saying that they have been given an advantage and have done nothing with it.

But what about all the places where Jesus performed no miracles? Jesus says that they will be better off on Judgment Day. How much better off? I don’t know for sure. But this gives me a lot of hope for people who respond to whatever evidence God has placed in their lives and follow Jesus to the extent that they know about Him. Why does this give me hope for them? It gives me hope for them because Jesus didn’t have to perform miracles in other places to know how they would have responded. Jesus knows people’s hearts well enough for His knowledge of our hearts’ responses and their “would have responded if” responses to be taken into account on Judgment Day.

So how does this change anything for me? Actions-wise, it doesn’t. I need to be a faithful witness, no matter what. I can’t just sit back and avoid witnessing “because I know that Jesus is fair and trust that He knows who would have believed in Him if they had heard.” Too many passages in His Word remind us that our responsibility to introduce people to Jesus is a serious responsibility with serious consequences for the people around us. But on the other hand, I can walk through life with hope for the people who seem to be the most disadvantaged when it comes to opportunities to know Jesus. Jesus knows their circumstances, and He knows their hearts, and on Judgment Day, it’s going to make a difference for them.

And I can trust Him to do what’s right. I love hope.

Note: I have obviously been less than consistent about posting devotional thoughts for a while now, so I’m not going to claim that I’ll be consistent for the next few months, or that the blog will be centered around a certain theme (it was supposed to deal with faith-stretching verses this year). I just hope that these thoughts are still an encouragement to you, whenever they come your way.

Kids’ Persistent Questions

Today’s Reading:

• Matthew 6:5-7:6; Luke 6:37-42; Matthew 7:7-20; Luke 6:43-45; Matthew 7:21-29; Luke 6:46-49

Verse(s) to Ponder:

• Keep on asking, and you will received what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.… You parents—if your children ask for a loaf of bread, do you give them a stone instead? Or if they ask for a fish, do you give them a snake? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him. – Matthew 7:7, 9-11, New Living Translation

Thoughts:
I was just thinking today about the connection between persistent prayer and praying to a Heavenly Father.

As a human father, sometimes I wish that my children wouldn’t ask so persistently. My son Michael is really, really eager to visit the Discovery Place (and we’ve already been there several times, so his experience gives him a lot of motivation to return). And he will ask me, “Dad, can we go to the Discovery Place?”

So I’ll say, “Yes, Michael, we can go.”

And he asks an important question: “When, dad?”

It usually takes me a minute to decide when I would like to take him to visit the Discovery Place, but the answer often ends up being something like, “We’ll go there next week on Thursday.”

You would think that I’d get a huge cheer right then! After all, I have just told Michael not only that we’ll go to the Discovery Place, but I’ve committed myself to a set date. I can’t postpone it beyond then without breaking my word (and I am very reluctant to do that).

But Michael is usually not very happy with an answer like that. “Yes” isn’t enough. “Next Thursday” isn’t enough. He wants to go NOW. And what that usually means is that for the next week, he keeps asking me over and over and over, “Dad, can we go to the Discovery Place? Can we go now?”

As I said, being a human father, this isn’t the most pleasant experience in the world for me. I can become a bit impatient… not that anyone else would know what I’m talking about, right? I’ve given my son an answer, I’ve given him the promise of a good gift, and I’ve given him a specific time when he can expect to receive it. Sometimes I wish he would just trust me and wait patiently.

A lot of the things we ask God for are things that He has said “Yes” to, also. Health. Wisdom. Character. Safety. And He has told us when we can expect to have them in their fullness—when Jesus comes back. Sometimes He gives us an early taste of them, too. But often, He asks us to wait.

Somehow, that doesn’t do much to satisfy our desires. We want those good gifts from God, and we want to experience them—fully—now. And so we ask, and we keep on asking. And we knock, and keep on knocking. And God keeps telling us, as we read His Word, “Yes, when Jesus comes back.” And we keep begging Him, “How about today? How about now?”

The really amazing thing to me is this: through Jesus, God encourages us to keep begging and asking. God is better with His children than I am with my son. He not only knows how to give good gifts, but God is patient and understanding toward His children’s repeated requests. He loves to hear them! He wants to have the opportunity to tell all of us—not just me, but you, too—to tell all of us a big, wonderful “Yes” over and over again. Through His “Yes,” God reminds us that He loves us. As He reminds us of His plan to fulfill every promise through Jesus, God thrills at the opportunity to fill our minds and hearts with His love again. And so He loves to hear us ask for His good gifts, not just once, but repeatedly. Every time we ask, we give Him another opportunity to joyfully remind us of His loving plans.

Note: I have obviously been less than consistent about posting devotional thoughts for a while now, so I’m not going to claim that I’ll be consistent for the next few months, or that the blog will be centered around a certain theme (it was supposed to deal with faith-stretching verses this year). I just hope that these thoughts are still an encouragement to you, whenever they come your way.