…Lord, do You want us to call down fire from heaven…(Luke 9:54 – HCSB)
James and John, the sons of thunder (Mark 3:17), took it upon themselves to become administers of God’s justice. Because the people were not receptive to Jesus, they felt it their responsibility to teach these folks a lesson for disrespecting God. How often do we presume to be standing up for the honor of God, and yet we do so in a manner not worthy of His grace?
Think about it. How many times have you seen someone in print, or television, or in person blaspheme the name of the Lord, or say derogatory things about God? How many of those times have you wanted to be like the Apostle Paul in Acts 13:10-11, and say to the offender, “I blind thee, wretched scum!” Tell the truth; aren’t you just like the disciples here, by pretense defending the honor of God, all the while defending your own self-esteem?
You must realize that we are no better than they; we are only recipients of God’s mercy and grace. We should not act haughty when we see others who do not believe; we wouldn’t either if it were not for God’s grace. Seeing staunch unbelievers should make us more humble, not more hardened. We are to suffer for His name’s sake; we must leave room for God to defend His own honor, in due time (2 Thessalonians 1:8 / Jude 15).
There is another lesson to learn here. In truth, the people were in the wrong; they didn’t receive Christ because He was seemingly looking past them to His destiny in Jerusalem. How like our own lives today, when Jesus is doing something for someone we know, but not for us, and we complain about it!
Hold your fire, you may be aiming at yourself.
7 comments:
This is one of the clearest cases of the presumption of faith in the Bible.
I said "hold your fire", not hold your comments...ha ha, I think....
You seemed to be having a good little conversation all by your self. ;-)
7/11/06
This is a post from our Voice of Vision book...
This was a good thought to begin my day with!
Thanks, Kim...you know, now that I am thinking about it some more, it would seem that people (I include myself in "people") sometimes take 1 Peter 3:15 and use it, not to glorify God, but as an excuse to keep their guns drawn. They seem to remember the "ready to give an answer" part of the verse, but seem to forget the "with gentleness and respect" part of the verse. I guess this is because, truly, they are not doing the first part of the verse, "sanctify the Lord God always in your hearts"...
(KJV) But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
(NIV) But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,
(ESV) but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,
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