The Command

Monday, February 5, 2018

Mark 9:7-8: Then a cloud overshadowed them, and a voice came from the cloud, "this is my one dear Son. Listen to Him!" Suddenly when they looked around, they saw no one with them any more except Jesus.

"I am your father. You better listen to me." Joe said to his teenage son who informed Joe, "I don't have to listen to you any more. I'm eighteen. I can do what I want."

I picked eighteen because it's not as scary as fourteen or four. Now a days, children don't seem to listen to mom, dad, teachers, principals, and yes, even pastors. The threat, "Because I said so." doesn't seem to work any more. It seems there is little respect for authoritative people. 

So even if God were to come down onto our "mountain" and say to us, "Here is Jesus, my beloved, Listen to Him." would people listen? It is doesn't seem so to me. Kids are being taught, it seems, to not listen to teachers, not listen to police officers, and the like. We are seeing that governing officials are not respected either. The reason is, I suppose, that some authorities do things that cause people to NOT respect them. Therefore ALL people in authority are bad. 

Can this trend be reversed? I think it can. The first step is, trust God. Trust the source of all authority. Trust God and what He had written down that revealed Himself to us. Trust that God kept His Word error free from the time that it was written until now. Trust that God keeps His Word now as a source of light and life, that God reveals Jesus who died in order to forgive you of your sins by means of His death on the cross and gave you life by means of His resurrection. Why would you trust God? Because God did all that He said that He was going to for you. God earned your trust. It's time to believe Him. It's time to listen to Him! It's time to receive Jesus. Dear God, thank You for Jesus. I trust You and I trust Him. Amen.