THE STORY OF JESUS: Matthew 13:10-17
“Many… people longed to see what you see but did not see it…” (Matthew 13:17)
Jesus identifies the key to faith: longing.
To seek and desire with intensity, to desperately want something.
Faith is more than agreeing with the mind, it is seeking with the heart.
All that is required is a ‘mustard seed’ of longing faith, and God will speak.
Those who have this longing, who seek with sincerity, will find, will receive.
Jesus’ teachings are not complicated, but they do take effort to grasp.
His parables are designed to separate those who want to know, and those who don’t.
Sunday after Sunday we come to church, but are we eagerly seeking truth?
If the sermon does not help, do we dig into the passage themselves to find the meaning?
Are we listening Monday to Saturday, discerning what God is saying through the text?
I sometimes feel that ‘sermons’ as we know them actually hinder us from hearing.
It is the minister who has wrestled with the scripture, the people get the finished product.
They passively listen and watch, then judge what they hear… ‘Good sermon pastor!’
These words from Ezekiel often come to mind when I think of church:
“My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to hear your words, but they do not put them into practice. Their mouths speak of love, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain. Indeed, to them you are nothing more than one who sings love songs with a beautiful voice and plays an instrument well, for they hear your words but do not put them into practice. (Ezekiel 33:31-32)
As a disciple of Jesus, am I hungering for God’s truth, not just for a ‘good sermon’?
As a follower of Jesus, am I actively applying God’s truth to my life… putting it into practice?
Whether a sermon is good or not, God is speaking; are we listening?
What do you sense the Lord saying to you?
PRAYER
Lord, if we live not by bread alone but by the word of God, how many of us are starving ourselves? How many of us blame the preacher, when it is our own lack of longing to hear You?