Thursday; December 21

When Jesus began His ministry, He found Himself in a challenging era. He was the Messiah who had been promised to save the world, but the religious environment didn’t necessarily feel like they needed any help. They took pride that they had figured it out and any attempts to “fix” them wouldn’t be looked on favorably. However, Jesus didn’t give up and continued to show them a better way. In fact, during the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus contrasted the phase, “You have heard that it was said …” with “But I say to you …” several times. Jesus understood the value of the Law of Moses, but He also realized there was a better way – and His disciples would be required to adopt it.

Interestingly, it is easy to find ourselves in a similar situation today. Whether it is religious, political or even social beliefs, many of us are content with the way things are. We have grown up with our beliefs and we are comfortable with them – however, there might be a better way of doing things – Jesus’ way. We may have been raised on philosophies that have served us well, but when we look deeper into the mind of God, we can find something better – something more mature. Jesus ends this discussion in this section of the Sermon on the Mount with, “Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”. (Matthew 5:48). The idea here may not be as much about sinlessness as it is about maturity. In essence, we shouldn’t be content with the way we have always lived our lives, let’s look for how we can be more godly in our attitudes and our behavior.

Are we listening to what Jesus said? When we do, we can literally hear the true meaning of the mind of God.

Think About It!

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