Imagine if the people from Jesus's time had the mentality of people today…
…the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well would call him a stalker and file for a restraining order.
…the woman who washed Jesus feet with perfume would instead march into the room, call him a sexist, and demand to be included in one of the twelve disciples.
…Zacchaeus would say that being a tax collector was part of his identity.
…the adulteress woman who was almost stoned to death would not change her ways because she would argue that she was a victim of her upbringing and unhappy circumstances.
Now, don't call the Bible police on me. I only want to illustrate how we are strongly influenced by the popular beliefs of our times, whether we realize it or not. From the day we are born, we are bombarded by messages, some so subtle that they penetrate our hearts and guide our decision-making without our knowing it. How many of us believe that we deserve better? How many believe that if we only had our big break, we would be happy? And women, how many of us believe that we really are better men? If we take the time to analyze the "voices" in our head, we would find that many are not God-centered! And if we are really honest with ourselves, if Jesus cast demons out of a man and into our herd of pigs, would we be filing a lawsuit against Jesus, even though we just witnessed Him saving a man?
There are many stumbling blocks in our Christian walk, and many are difficult to remove. But it is not an impossible task, if we first ask God to remove the blinders from our eyes and shine a light on these stumbling blocks so that we aren't tripping over them in the dark. Take the time today to ask yourself: if I met Jesus, how would I respond?
…the Samaritan woman who met Jesus at the well would call him a stalker and file for a restraining order.
…the woman who washed Jesus feet with perfume would instead march into the room, call him a sexist, and demand to be included in one of the twelve disciples.
…Zacchaeus would say that being a tax collector was part of his identity.
…the adulteress woman who was almost stoned to death would not change her ways because she would argue that she was a victim of her upbringing and unhappy circumstances.
Now, don't call the Bible police on me. I only want to illustrate how we are strongly influenced by the popular beliefs of our times, whether we realize it or not. From the day we are born, we are bombarded by messages, some so subtle that they penetrate our hearts and guide our decision-making without our knowing it. How many of us believe that we deserve better? How many believe that if we only had our big break, we would be happy? And women, how many of us believe that we really are better men? If we take the time to analyze the "voices" in our head, we would find that many are not God-centered! And if we are really honest with ourselves, if Jesus cast demons out of a man and into our herd of pigs, would we be filing a lawsuit against Jesus, even though we just witnessed Him saving a man?
There are many stumbling blocks in our Christian walk, and many are difficult to remove. But it is not an impossible task, if we first ask God to remove the blinders from our eyes and shine a light on these stumbling blocks so that we aren't tripping over them in the dark. Take the time today to ask yourself: if I met Jesus, how would I respond?
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