By David Cooke
Jesus’ followers—both the originals back in the day and the ones he has now—have never really gotten it. It began in his hometown, where no one would accept Jesus as the Messiah because they knew his daddy and his mama. His disciples didn’t proclaim him to be God’s son until they saw him walk on water—feeding 5,000 folks dinner hadn’t been enough proof, I guess.
But even after seeing the miracles, no one understood that following Jesus did not mean riding his coattails to a better job. No one accepted his plain words that following him meant carrying a cross that would kill them. They all thought they’d get a royal robe instead of a servant’s apron.
Today, when we picture our lives as Christ-like, we often try to mold ourselves into a person that “doesn’t”: doesn’t cuss, doesn’t smoke, doesn’t tell certain jokes, or watch certain movies or read certain books. A life of not doing things, where it’s better to do nothing, otherwise you might sin.
Jesus’ life was a life of action: feeding, healing, welcoming, and loving. Maybe if we spent our time doing what he did, we might finally start to get it.
Welcome!This Lenten season, the First Baptist Church of Christ will take the time to listen to the entire New Testament (days and passages are listed on the right column). Through our partnership with the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, every member of the church will be offered a free MP3 recording of the New Testament. By listening to this recording for less than half an hour each day, one can hear the entire New Testament in forty days.
At this blog, you’ll be able to read some of our members’ thoughts about what they are hearing. Our contributors reflect the great diversity of our congregation. They are male and female, older and younger, some with a seminary background and some without. As you read their questions, reflections, and observations, I invite you to join the conversation by posting a comment.
Friday, February 19, 2010
February 19: Matthew 13–18
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment