LISTEN: "He answered, “I suppose you’re going to quote the proverb, ‘Doctor, go heal yourself. Do here in your hometown what we heard you did in Capernaum.’ Well, let me tell you something: No prophet is ever welcomed in his hometown. Isn’t it a fact that there were many widows in Israel at the time of Elijah during that three and a half years of drought when famine devastated the land, but the only widow to whom Elijah was sent was in Sarepta in Sidon? And there were many lepers in Israel at the time of the prophet Elisha but the only one cleansed was Naaman the Syrian.”
That set everyone in the meeting place seething with anger. They threw him out, banishing him from the village, then took him to a mountain cliff at the edge of the village to throw him to his doom, but he gave them the slip and was on his way. (Luke 4:24-30) The Message
CONSIDER: Prophets are resented. They frequently tell an "inconvenient truth". If the prophet happens to be local, they are resented even more. They're just like us, no better. And then . . .they show up and tell us what's wrong with us. . . what we should be doing (or not doing). This scripture tells us that no prophet is accepted in his or her own town and maybe not even in his or her own family. When Jesus showed up in his home town, his family came to see him because according to the Gospel of Mark, they wanted to take him home because they thought he must be out of his mind! As Jesus spoke in his hometown, the people "were filled with fury".
SO WHAT: We resent the truth. Sometimes we are slow learners, especially when it comes to our spiritual life. We have to have patience with ourselves before God; we have to have patience with our friends and our families. We need to give others trying to speak truth to us the benefit of the doubt. We need to listen. Who has God put in your path to speak the truth to you? Is it a friend? A Pastor? One of your children? Or maybe the person you find it hardest to listen to. Today. . . open your ears and your heart to listen to who God has sent to speak to you. And maybe. . . maybe God is sending you to be a messenger to someone else. . .
Take a minute and watch this video by Lecrae
http://youtu.be/AO9YGqVKj0E
PRAYER: Dear God, help me to be open to the "prophets" you send to me. Help me to not resent the "messenger" just because it's someone I know. May I listen today. And use me Lord to be your messenger today, even if those you send me to don't want to listen. Amen
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