Category Archives: Jesus

Goldilocks zeal – Matthew 8:18-22

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Like the famous porridge in the story of Goldilocks, a person’s response to Jesus can be “too hot” or “too cold.”  Let’s take  a look at a couple of examples before we determine what a “just right” response would be. 

18 Now when Jesus saw a crowd around him, he gave orders to go over to the other side. 19 And a scribe came up and said to him, “Teacher, I will follow you wherever you go.” 20 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” 

This scribe seems to have not thought his commitment through.  His response is too hot, or overzealous, given his level of understanding.  Jesus may made his home in Capernaum, possibly with Simon Peter and family, but the reality of his ministry meant that he didn’t often get back there at night.  At a deeper level, we have to think through where our true home is.  Paul reminds believers that our true citizenship is in heaven (Philippians 3:20).  If we do not consider this reality, then we may find our commitment to Christ is superficial.  It may not stand the test of time or the rigor of unforeseen trials.

21 Another of the disciples said to him, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 22 And Jesus said to him, “Follow me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead.”

Without going into detail, we can see that he is asking for a delay.  Maybe it would be weeks or months, maybe a year or more.  Here are some thoughts from Billy Graham.  The man grasps  that following Christ involves sacrifice, but it is a sacrifice that he is unwilling to make.  Unlike the overzealous scribe, this man is underzealous or too cold.  

A Goldilocks response to Jesus needs to be carefully thought through rather than hasty.  But it also needs to be willing to give whatever is necessary for the cause of Christ.  This world is not our home anyway, so with that in mind, why wait?  A true and thorough cost-counting will reveal that Jesus is worth more than anything or anyone that we might decide to place before him.

 

A Confident Prayer Prompted by Matthew 7:7-11

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7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 9 Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? 11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

Heavenly Father,

Teach me to ask for whatever I need from you.  Sometimes I forget; sometimes I just do not bother.  Sometimes I am negligent in prayer.  Make the kind of person who asks, seeks and knocks.  Teach me to be confident as I pray.

I know that you are good, so infinitely, incomparably good compared to me.  Sometimes even I do good things for my children or for others.  Why should I not be confident as I approach you with my needs?

Teach me to pray bold, confident prayers.  In the very word confident I see a root implying “faith” or “trust.”  Help me to have complete confidence in you.

You are good and you give good things.  Make me the kind of person who prays for good things that you would be more than happy to give,

In Christ,

Amen.

 

The easy way out? – Matthew 7:13-14

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Toward the end of his Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,

13 “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.

Wouldn’t it be great if following Jesus was the easiest thing we could do?  Popularity, public approval, material well-being, and an absence of trials and temptations.  Isn’t that the life most of us would like to have?  It turns out a life like that is more likely to lead to destruction.

We can learn a few things from Christ’s first followers.  Neither the Gospels nor the book of Acts, nor the rest of the New Testament gives any evidence that those early believers were getting voted “Most Likely to Succeed” or winning popularity contests of any sort.  They didn’t take the easy way out.  Why should we expect anything different?  

We need to be careful here.  Lack of popularity is no guarantee we are faithfully following Jesus either.  It might just mean we are doing a lot wrong.  

Still, when we try our best to serve God in accordance with his revealed will, we can expect it to bring some difficulty.  We can also expect that quite a few others will decide to go another way — through a wide gate and down an easy path.  Many will take the easy way out.  Look around.  Which gate are you heading going through and which path are you following?  How does it compare with the way of the cross?