A day of relative peace and all of it from Your bountiful hand, Father. May tonight be a night of blissful sleep, as well! Amen.
John 7:40-44 (<<click here to read the passage)
One of the wild things about this last year is how much it polarized people. For many people, either you sided with what was set as truth by what many would deem the professionals – we wore masks, social distanced, and followed guidelines to keep ourselves and others as safe as possible. Many others, on the opposite pole, felt they were being led astray by those in power and, instead, chose to not follow the protocol. For them, they only wore a mask, socially distanced, and followed safety guidelines only when they were required to do so. I have many family members and friends that fell to both sides.
Regardless of what side you chose to be on, it is very difficult to understand how anyone could be foolish enough to be on the other! Both sides believe heartily that they are on the side of truth. And honestly, neither side will be swayed to believe in the other side.
The “crowd” associated with Jesus was in a similar position. Some believed that He was who He said He was. Others were outright hostile in their thoughts, attitudes, and eventually their actions toward Him. While others disqualified Jesus as the Messiah because he was from Nazareth, not Bethlehem. For the book of the Prophet Micah, found in the Old Testament made plain,
But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah,
….are only a small village among all the people of Judah.
Yet a ruler of Israel,
….whose origins are in the distant past,
….will come from you on my behalf. Micah 5:2 NLT
But in hindsight, we know the truth found in Luke 2:1-7, that Jesus’ parents had to go from Nazareth to Bethlehem for a census called by the Roman government fulfilling the prophecy of His birth there instead – God’s mighty and sovereign hand at work!
Some of what the “crowds” held to be true, was not based on fact. Jesus may have had a pronounced Galilean accent. If they had looked more carefully, they would not have jumped to the wrong conclusions. When you search for God’s truth, make sure you look carefully and thoughtfully at the Bible with an open heart and mind. Don’t jump to conclusions before knowing more of what the Bible says. *
On this side of eternity, truth – or a lack thereof – might free you or may even enslave you. It could bring life…or it might ensure death. But in the scheme of things, the other side of eternity is all that really matters. What you believe about Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, is the ultimate divider between eternal life and eternal death.
As this past Sunday’s sermon concluded, everybody has to make that choice. It’s either “A” – obey God or “B” – do your own thing. There is no “C”. Truly there’s an eternal polarization. Believe or disbelieve, the choice is yours and yours alone. But choose wisely, your eternal destiny depends on it!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
June 17th, 2021, Thurs, 9:45 pm
