Jesus at around my age traveled with 12 apostles which by todays standards roughly equates to having a posse, right? J.C. picked guys and they followed him... not sure I have that kind of influence or charisma so I may have to hire some guys. If you ARE willing to roll with me just let me know. Anyways, he healed the blind, turned water to wine, multiplied bread and fish, WOW! I know a few slight of hand tricks and can pull a quarter out of your ear but I'm gonna have to take some magic lessons to get to this caliber. Jesus also talked in parables which I don't do myself either. I do know some cute anecdotes and I have some very compelling metaphors which will have to do for now. lastly, NO SINNING!! Hmmmmm... this is kinda the problem I needed resolved. So, maybe these are not the best examples from his life to follow so much as the points that set him apart as being the living Son of God. The true revelation to me was actually the 40 days spent alone dedicated to just being with God. I used to think the moral of the story was that the devil attacks us all and that even Jesus wasn't free of temptation which is neither accurate nor the point. In fact Jesus wasn't tempted in the slightest and promptly fought the Devil with the word "... For it is written.", which the devil attacks with more versus and Jesus fights off again with scripture. I believe the main point was to show that the scripture IS our weapon against the devil's lies.
Hebrews 4:12(NIV)
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than an double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.
I also believe that when Jesus said, "You must love the Lord your God ... and with all your MIND.", that he was referring to knowing the scripture. When you start to know the Lord's mind through his word maybe your motivations will be the same and the sins will melt away. This is just one man's interpretations, let me know what you think?
:)
ReplyDeletescripture memory all the way.