People watched him, waiting for him to “break their rules” so that they could accuse him of wrongdoing.
When he healed the lame, he was accused of blasphemy.
A village refused to let him enter.
A guy told him he wanted to follow him, so Jesus told him what that involved. Instead of embracing it, the man came back with, “Sure! I’m all in BUT . . .” (there is no “but” in following Jesus).
He took his friends to the garden to pray with him and asked them to keep watch and pray with him. Instead of doing that, they had a nice nap.
How would we react if these things happened to us in our context?
Our friends desert us . . .
We are accused of saying and doing things that we did not do . . .
No one wants to hang out with us and be our friends anymore . . .
People scrutinize our every action . . .
Sometimes, just one hurdle like these listed above spin us in different directions. The cause us to lose focus and feel hopeless.
But . . . all of them together could truly do even the strongest person in.
But not Jesus . . . he truly embodied perseverance. And since he did and does, we can too.
Jesus used his perseverance and grit to go all the way to the cross. If the cross is a metaphor for death to self, selfish ambition and drive, then may we learn from that journey?
What are some things in our lives we need to allow to die a death so that we can be the whole being God created us to be?
Proverbs 3:5-6
“Trust God from the bottom of your heart;
don’t try to figure out everything on your own.
Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go;
he’s the one who will keep you on track.”