Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus so they watched him closely…Mark 3:2
If you spend any time in the gospels, you will notice right away that Jesus wasn't the most popular man in town. The Pharisees, the religious leaders of their time, were livid with his arrival. So what was their real problem with Jesus? Did they truly not believe what the scriptures said about the coming Messiah? Were they so caught up in waiting for His arrival that they couldn't see him right in front of them. Maybe there were they embarrassed by not having been given a special invitation to his birth? This man - born in a manger couldn't possibly be as important as them, let alone be the Son of God. Or maybe their animosity stemmed mostly from feeling threatened. Until Jesus came along people followed them.
What about us today? Do we look so hard for God to work in our lives that we can't see what he's already doing? Do we think we're so important that we should always be "in the know"? Do we ever feel threatened by someone coming in and upsetting our plans and challenging what we know? Do we close ourselves off to the workings of God just because they don't fit our image or our plan?
Encouragement for the week: When we get caught in this trap it might be helpful to step back - do more listening and observing rather than moving and shaking. Sometimes it's better for us if we get our own ideas of who God is and how He works out of the way so we can truly let Him show us.
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