Jump Through a Hoop

“Great is Thy faithfulness,” O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

“Great is Thy faithfulness!” “Great is Thy faithfulness!”
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
“Great is Thy faithfulness,” Lord, unto me!

Thank You, Father, that I can proclaim it is true!

Matthew 12:38-42 (<<click the green)

“Jesus, jump through a hoop for us!” When I read this interaction between You and “some teachers of religious law and Pharisees” who came to You saying, “Teacher, we want you to show us a miraculous sign to prove your authority,” this is what comes to mind.

A single miracle should have been more than enough to open the eyes of those truly open to seeing who You were (and are!) But once we have firmly decided that You aren’t who You say You are no amount of miracles will soften our hard hearts. It just becomes a show – some afternoon entertainment… If anything it becomes something else we can pick at and disregard, one more thing that we can use to shellac – to varnish – over our hardened hearts making them even harder.

Lord Jesus, You jump through hoops for no one. You are always faithful and will time and time again forgive us of our sins, for You love us dearly. But You also know our hearts, and what our hearts are full of and You don’t mess around. You are not here to tickle our fancy. You came to heal and forgive. You came to eradicate the sin that has us so entangled.

But showing “a miraculous sign to prove Your authority”? Nope. All we have to do is to look around us – signs are everywhere! All we must do is to honestly and with open hearts look at the miracle of Your resurrection and we will believe.

Apr 19^th, 2018, Thurs, 5:13 am