Good
Morning Friends,
"Jesus
said to them, 'Surely you will quote this proverb to me: 'Physician, heal
yourself! Do here in your hometown what
we have heard that you did in Capernaum.'' 'I tell you the truth,' he
continued, 'no prophet is accepted in his hometown. I assure you that there
were many widows in Israel in Elijah's time, when the sky was shut for three and
a half years and there was a severe famine throughout the land. Yet Elijah was
not sent to any of them, but to a widow in Zarephath in the region of Sidon. And
there were many in Israel with leprosy in the time of Elisha the prophet, yet
not one of them was cleansed -- only Naaman the Syrian.'" (Luke 4:23-27)
When
Jesus came to His hometown of Nazareth, the response of the people was not as
good as the response He had received elsewhere. The people of Nazareth had
greater opportunity to be taught by Jesus than any other people. Jesus lived
there for 30 years, and even from His childhood He could amaze the scholars with
His knowledge of God's Word. Yet, the people of Nazareth took Him for granted
and did not pay attention to Him.
Jesus
says that is a typical response among people who have become familiar with
someone. That's why consultants and experts are so popular and so well paid.
The one who is brought in from the outside is usually listened to and followed
more easily than the one who is right in your midst. There is a tendency to
ignore the people you are most familiar with, and ignore the gifts God has
given them.
The
people of Nazareth had the Son of God living within their midst for years and
they missed Him. When He came back to share the good news with them, they did
not respond to Him, they even tried to kill Him, but God intervened to protect
Jesus.
Don't
be blind to the people around you. Don't ignore how God might want to use even the
people most familiar to you.
His,
by Grace, Steve
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