Thought For The Day

Beginning in Luke 4:16 we read of Jesus going to His hometown of Nazareth. It was the Sabbath Day and as was His custom He went to the synagogue to read and teach. On this day He chose to read from the prophet Isaiah which just happened to be a messianic passage about Himself. After reading He sat back down and everyone was watching Him. Then He said, "Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." And they marveled at this hometown boy who spoke with such authority. He then proceeded to teach that they would reject Him just as the Jews had rejected the prophets of old. This angered the crowd so much that they proceeded to throw Him out of town, carried Him up a hill so that they could throw Him off a cliff. Jesus easily escapes to continue His ministry.

There are times when elders, teachers and preachers must present biblical teaching that can be convicting to some individuals. These difficult admonitions must be presented with the correct attitude of humility and love (Eph. 4:15). All too often the recipient of God’s warning becomes angry at the messenger, accusing them of being condescending and breaks fellowship with the teacher or in some cases leaves the church altogether. We all should realize that "all have sinned" (Rom. 3:23) and God corrects those that He loves.(Heb. 12:6) Becoming angry at the one delivering the message serves no other purpose than to divide the church and give Satan the victory. "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God." (1 John 4:7)

Jay Launius 2020 Maud church of Christ Maud, Texas