I am stuck. Stuck on this one piece of scripture and I can't get past it. Can't go around it. Gotta go through it (or maybe over it).
Finish the sentence:
"When Jesus saw his ministry drawing huge crowds, he..."
A. Knew He was becoming the flavor of the month and enjoyed every moment of it
B. Decided now was a good time to stir them up and get them all excited about the Kingdom
C. Spoke louder so they could hear him in the back
D. Climbed a hill
I am in awe of how he dealt with his popularity...if you guessed that Jesus "climbed a hill" you were right. He literally made it even more difficult for people to follow him. He was "content with obscurity" and "content with second best" and when he became more popular, he weeded them out by making it physically difficult for them to follow.
I am just amazed at that.
And then when he got to the top of the hill, the first words out of his mouth were: "You're blessed when you're at the end of your rope"...
I think there were more than a few people at the end of their rope as they trudged all the way to the top of that hill...I can almost hear the huffing and puffing...
But then he just delivered this promise so difficult, yet mixed with profound comfort...and he continued, "...when you're at the end of your rope...with less of you, there is more of God and His rule."
I'm kind of thinking that there must have literally been less of them...their sweaty armpits and foreheads must have exhausted at least a few pounds of water from their bodies. More of God.
More of God. More of God. Less of me.
Do I want more of God and his rule? Am I willing to do what it takes to come to the end of my rope? Some days it happens quite naturally. But the days when I am content are perhaps the most dangerous days because those days I am not climbing the hill...I'm choosing to stay at the bottom where the water and food are. And savoring my own strength.
My life for Yours.
My heart for Yours.
My strength for Yours.
2 comments:
I suspect it is a bit of both C and D, except it wasn't to make Himself less accessible to the weak and those in wheelchairs who wouldn't be able to trudge up a hillside. It seems to me that He did this so that his voice would travel over the heads of the people in the front so that everyone could hear and that no one would be left out.
He did the same thing when he went into a boat and pushed out a bit. We shouldn't think that He was reaching out to avid swimmers or suggesting that it was time to swim to God... but rather so that when he spoke his voice carried better so that everyone could hear.
We don't often think of these things because we are used to our age of electronics, mics, speakers and amplifiers.
So I don't think it was necessary that all of them had to trudge up the hill and fit on top or have the experience of climbing in order to get what Jesus was meaning. Nor was it necessary that they all had to sweat off pounds in order to receive a blessing or "experience" the word more profoundly.
Unfortunately, the Message can take a bit too many liberties in paraphrasing, and this seems to be one such instance. The NASB reads: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." As those who worship God must worship Him in "spirit and in truth" (John 4:24), we read that Jesus preaches good news "to the poor" (Luke 4:18) not meaning physically poor. As proverbs 16:19 says, "It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud."
What does it take to become "poor in spirit"? I believe that it is through meditating on God's requirements, His law, that humbles and forms the heart: "The law of the LORD is perfect, restoring the soul; The testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple" (Psalm 19:7).
Post a Comment