- For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Look at him! A glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is justified by her deeds. Matthew 11:18-19 – When God moves or speaks, how do you respond? Here Jesus is recounting the response John and Himself received from the people and cities they spoke to. When people saw John, dressed like he was and sharing the messages he did, their response was that John must be demon possessed. When people saw Jesus and heard Jesus, it wasn’t “Messiah” they were shouting. They instead shouted that He was a glutton and drunkard who only hung out with the worst of the worst. This is how people responded to John and Jesus in their day. So back to the question I asked earlier, when God moves or speaks, how will you respond? My hope is that as God begins to demonstrate to you His realness and His ability to move in all the ways you need that you respond in acceptance of Him. Yet this question needs to be asked even of those who do believe in Jesus. No, we aren’t dismissing God has a fake like those in the passage did, but we can still label God things that He isn’t. Maybe we label Him “not important accept on Sunday.” Maybe we label Him “right about most things but not about this one way I want to live.” Throughout His word and throughout our life God is moving and speaking, so how will we respond? By declaring Him Lord like we and all those in Jesus’ day should have? Or give by giving Him untrue labels like that in our passage? The wisdom and works of the Lord have made it clear who Jesus is, I suggest we agree with it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 3333
- All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Matthew 11:27 – Jesus is the only way to the Father. It’s a common truth we hold to in the church, but how often does our lives not match up to our stated belief? We know that Jesus is the only way to come to the Father and know Him, but as we’ve been reading, knowing Jesus means letting go of everything and following Him with our life. Meaning knowing God and being close with the Father means following Jesus like He speaks of in scripture. It’s not just a verbal statement of your knowing Jesus, it’s an entire life devotion to knowing Jesus that opens the way to knowing the Father. Don’t let the pursuit of religion and external demonstrations of how churchy we can be blind you from the fact we need a deep following of Jesus to be with the Father. No one comes to the Father except through Jesus and through Jesus’ way. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 865
- Then he began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. Matthew 11:20-22 – While studying over this passage I came across this quote that I believe describes the weight of the passage perfectly. “These cities did not attack Jesus; they did not drive him from their gates; they did not seek to crucify him; they simply disregarded him. Neglect can kill as much as persecution can.” (Barclay) We don’t know what Jesus did within the cities of Chorazin or Bethsaida. We know He must have gone there, taught there, and most likely did some sort of healings since that was His custom. While we can’t say what Jesus did for sure, we know what the people in those cities did for certain. They disregarded Jesus. They saw Him, heard Him, and experienced Him, yet did nothing with Him. How sad is it that in our world today we have so many people in this same situation. Hearing the message of the Gospel, seeing the works of God in front of them, witnessing the truth of God’s love for them played out throughout scripture, yet still choosing to not follow Jesus. Please don’t let this be said of you. Scripture is very clear on the end result of those who go through life never choosing to start a relationship with Jesus. Sure you may not have persecuted Christians or crucified Jesus, but if you choose to not follow Him, Hell is still your end destination. The love of God and the life He is offering you is right in front of you to freely take, don’t neglect all this because you may not have tomorrow to say yes to it. I love you, but Jesus loves you more – Mac – Daily DEVO 1961
Daily DEVO 