Monday, January 16, 2012

Home can be the hardest sell

And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.(Luke 4:16 ESV)

Keeping in mind that everything Christ did, He did in our place, this event is significant. Having won the long drawn out temptation battle with Satan, and then winning over the crowds in Galilee, Jesus comes to His home town of Nazareth, where, as we'll see, the crowd was much less accomodating, and the applause much more subdued. Knowing that things would be this way, Jesus still did it. He acted consistently. He obeyed the Law and kept the Sabbath. He humbly worshipped the Father, though He Himself was worthy of worship. He kept turning to the Word of God, not just in the face of temptation, but for direction, even thought He Himself was The Word. And He came home, often the hardest place to convince people that God has called us to do something. He was not afraid to do these things, because He was sure - even after the lows of temptation, and the highs of approving crowds, where He stood with God the Father.
Since He did it, we can too. We can and should "go home" and tell people about our relationship with God. We are called to tell them what God is doing in our lives, and let Him handle the response. We need to be at home everything we seek to be in public. We need to be more like Jesus: consistent, humble, and unafraid of rejection by men.

No comments:

Post a Comment