Scripture: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!” Luke 13:34 NIV
Observation: The Lord is admonishing those around him for not heeding the words of the prophets to their own detriment.
Application: We in this country today are very good at “shooting the messenger.” In many areas of life, social, community, politically, and especially faith the messenger is laughed at, mocked, and ignored. In Jesus’ time they literally “shot” or killed men sent of God. While Jesus wasn’t just a man sent of God, he was God, he was killed for his message. True, that was God’s plan to redeem the world, but the plan worked because men are evil and we would rather “kill the messenger” than accept the message and repent. Our task for today is to embrace the message that Jesus died to bring to us. We must be bold in our faith and willing to share Jesus–even if it means our message might be “shot.”
Prayer: Father, help us to bold in the face of opposition. Amen
Doug