John 5:39-43 - “You search the Scriptures, for you believe they give you eternal life. And the Scriptures point to me! Yet you won’t come to me so that I can give you this life eternal! “Your approval or disapproval means nothing to me, for as I know so well, you don’t have God’s love within you. I know, because I have come to you representing my Father and you refuse to welcome me, though you readily enough receive those who aren’t sent from him, but represent only themselves!
Jesus had healed again on the Sabbath….upsetting the religious leaders once again. They were worried that Jesus had broken one of the 100 procedures they had written to explain the commandments God gave to Moses. Fullness of Life had been restored to a man who had all but given up the hope that he would ever walk again…but the leaders of the day took issue with the day the healing had been performed.
Jesus quickly reminded them that he took His orders from God alone. He did not need their or any other man’s approval to heal on any day he chose. He modeled the love of His father…and only had the power to heal because God gave it to Him in the first place. He added that this was just the beginning of the great miracles God was going to do through Him.
It was His unity with God that gave Him the confidence he needed to speak so boldly to these men. He had built a relationship with His father that no man could ever rival. It created a passion in Him to love others above Himself…His compassion spilled out into miracle after miracle of healing …forgiving sin as he healed.
I admit that I have always worried too much about what others think of me and what I do. I needed the reminder that God is my only judge…and I need to separate myself more from what others think about me. I need to work on the problem I have with pride. I love to hear praise…it makes me feel loved and needed and worthwhile to know that what I did was good for someone. Those pats on the back swell my soul with happy thoughts that I am helping others. Guess I need to be more worried about getting pats on the back from God than anyone else. His are the only ones that matter in the end.
Father…thank you for the reminder that you are the only approval I need. Forgive me for the times that I have worried too much about what others think…and forgotten to even ask you if what I did was okay. Help me to build a relationship with you so strong and deep that I know with confidence what you want me to do….so that passion to love others and serve you will drive me the way it did Jesus. Amen.
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