I can proclaim, Father, that You truly are a God who answers prayers! You are almighty! You care for us and have great compassion for us! Though the future is uncertain, we can place our trust in You. Whatever the future holds You remain our immovable Rock! Hallelujah!
Luke 8:4-15 (<<click to read the passage)
One of the most challenging things for a school bus driver to accomplish is to get students to understand and then act accordingly. I comment frequently about the struggles of dealing with my younger students, but my older ones can be a challenge, as well.
Yesterday, I had had it! Two high school guys, no matter how many times I tell them, choose to do their own thing and will not listen! In the mornings – I am sure they are not innocent! – but they really give me no grief. But in the afternoon! They make up for lost time! They are amongst the first half of my drop-offs, so they are not on too awfully long, but every day I have to tell them to sit down. Usually not just once but two, three or more times! That is ridiculous! They are freshmen in high school. If they began riding the bus in kindergarten, this would be their tenth year on a school bus…they know the rules!
We were on a back county road and I had just told them to sit (for one of them, it was already his second time in like 15 minutes!) and they totally ignored me! There was zero traffic, so I stopped right there and laid into them both! I didn’t even pick up the on-bus mic and just bellowed for all the bus to hear! They, of course, sit clear in the back. And boy, they sat that time and didn’t get up until they were getting off the bus!
In this passage from Luke 8, Jesus taught with short stories – parables. He taught this way quite often. He purposely did this so that those who truly wanted to hear, would dig to understand. He wasn’t purposely trying to hide things from His listeners but, as is the case with all people, if they don’t really want to learn they are not going to. Some of his listeners may just not have cared about what He had to say and some of them just were not interested in putting forth the effort to learn from Him. It was just easier to stay right where they were.
One other point here is that even those who struggle to learn can learn and do learn when they are given incentive and encouragement. My wife, Karen, is a great teacher! She can motivate even the most challenged of students to do well. In first grade, you learn to read and many have surpassed even what they thought they could accomplish and have discovered the joy of reading.
God has given us the seed to sow – the Good News of Jesus’ free gift of salvation. Our responsibility is to sow. We cannot control the receptivity of those who hear. But we must be faithful. We can also strive to sow in such a way that motivates our listeners to take to heart what we proclaim.
Lord Jesus, give us a burden for the lost. May we not turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to Your heartfelt pleas!
Mar 10th, 2020, Tues, 12:38 pm
