Prayer
Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 106:1,
Lord I give You thanks and praise;
for Your love endures forever.
Remember me, Lord; come to my aid.
and show me Your salvation. Amen.
Reading
To me, today’s passage is a warning against writing others off as inferior or unworthy of our attention or respect out of some sort of superficial measurement of their worth.
Can you believe that this group of people missed out on the gift of eternal life because they decided that no son of their village carpenter could have anything of value to offer them spiritually? And this despite the miracles He had already performed! They grumbled among themselves and dishonoured Jesus to one another.
It’s even sadder when one considers that there were probably a few people in that group who would have listened to Him and responded positively, were it not for the grumbling of the more influential members of a group. I’ve noticed over the years that the same person who will be quite open to Jesus and the Gospel when in a one-on-one conversation, can become completely closed and antagonistic in the company of their peers. I’m sure there were a few such people in the crowd that day.
Knowing, as we do, that Jesus is the incarnate Son of God, “the radiance of the Father’s glory and the exact representation of His Being” (Hebrews 1:3), their behaviour sounds ridiculous to us. And it’s tragic that they lost out on the Word of Eternal Life because of their prideful grumbling and disrespect. But we need to learn from their mistake, lest we repeat it in our day and age and miss out on some wonderful friendship or ministry opportunity, simply because of some aspect of the identity of the person in front of us.
‘Stop grumbling among yourselves,’ Jesus answered.
That’s our command for today. It’s a call for us to see the dangers and to refuse to be part of disrespectful, dishonouring conversations about others. It’s also a call to us to have our eyes open to recognising the presence of Jesus in our midst today – perhaps even in the least remarkable individuals or conversations..
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will be open to God speaking to me or ministering to me through anyone He chooses to use.
- I will refuse to participate in conversations that dishonour others.
Holy Spirit, keep me strong in my resolve to stay open to You and Your messengers today, no matter what they look or sound like. Amen.
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