Our Bible story last night was Jesus being left at the temple when He was 12. My son had an astute comment/question...why did the people go from favoring, liking, and being astounded by Jesus to plotting His death.
One reason is that as a child and young man, Jesus did not challenge the people by asking them to accept Him as Lord, God's Son, and the Messiah. When He did ask them to accept Him as such they strongly resisted. And they surely were not going to follow Him! And people today still resist. They may accept the morals and virtues of Christianity as good and wholesome but they will not repent from their current lives and turn to Jesus.
It is staggering to think how little we (I) follow Jesus. We (I) can't get more than a few verses into the Sermon on the Mount before colossal failure faces us at every turn. And yes, I know we are sinners and Jesus forgives sinners...but once forgiven I think I must move forward with more determination to not fail. I must ask Him, the Spirit, to reign in me and rule the day. And to keep on keeping on. And at the end of the day to stand in His strength and look back at the victories He amassed that day...and to keep on standing in Him.
I think Jesus is truly saddened by the amount of time I spend not thinking about Him. He is overjoyed every time I do turn to Him but these times dedicated to Him and Him alone are very rare and very short. So much gets in the way. I allow and oftentimes put stuff in the way. Satan doesn't need to devise too many ways to keep me from The Lord...I do it myself.
It has now been a week since the first gift distribution I did in Juarez. Our team talked about praying for the 12 week discipleship program. Tonight is the first night I thought of it. So I am signing off to spend some time in prayer for those precious kids in that desolate neighborhood in Juarez. Night.
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