Cloudy lenses, muffled hearing, confused hearts

How is it that you fail to understand that I did not speak about bread? Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” Then they understood that he did not tell them to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees. (Matthew 16:11-12 ESV) The disciples were so accustomed to filtering spiritual life through the legalism of the Pharisees, and so used to filtering life in general through only the lens of the physical, that they were missing the message Christ was conveying. It took a lot of repetition for them to finally understand. In an age of instant everything, we struggle to keep focus - to persist in hearing the lessons of Jesus over and over again, thinking that we understand when we really do not. How dependent we are on the Holy Spirit to guide us and interpret the truths Christ has for us! Today, may our spiritual sight be clear, our ears open, and our hearts attentive to the things He has for us.