Hearing What You Hear

Acts 13:26-31
26“Brothers, sons of the family of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us has been sent the message of this salvation.
27For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, because they did not recognize him nor understand the utterances of the prophets, which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled them by condemning him.
28And though they found in him no guilt worthy of death, they asked Pilate to have him executed.
29And when they had carried out all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb.
30But God raised him from the dead,
31and for many days he appeared to those who had come up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, who are now his witnesses to the people.

As I read through Paul's speech at the synoguge I am reminded that God spent several thousand years telling the world that a Savior was coming. The prophets faithfully declared God's plan to the world. But they didn't hear Him. When Jesus finally arrived they didn't want to believe because their own sensibilities and opinions got in their way. They may have heard the words but they didn't hear the message.

 Lest I hold judgment over those who have gone ahead of me I have to remember that I probably do that too. Have you ever disageed with the Scriptures? I once heard a famous TV talk show host declare that she quit going to church when she heard the pastor say that God is a jealous God. She didn't like that. It didn't seem right to her that God would be jealous. So if that's what it says in the Bible then the Bible's not for her. She didn't hear what she wanted to hear. In truth the Bible does say that God is a jealous God and if that's how He wants to describe Himself perhaps it is not in error to do so.

 But that calls me to pay attention to my own little defections from the Word. Instead of trying to create my own religion based on what seems good to me, I ask tht God would help me to bend my will to match His own instead.

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