“What do you think?
There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and
work today in the vineyard.’ ‘I will not,’ he answered, but later he changed
his mind and went. Then the father went to
the other son and said the same thing. He answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but he did
not go. Which of the two did what his
father wanted?” “The first,” they answered.
Jesus said to
them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and
the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John
came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not
believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And
even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.”
(Matthew 21:28-32)
How is it that we can be so blind to the simple obedience Jesus calls for? Our words can be so lofty and pious and express such commitment, but our follow-through can be so lacking! For some reason, according to Jesus, the more "religious" we are, the more we are prone to do this.
How can this happen? How do we allow these huge blind-spots to form in our lives?
I think it starts when our spiritual words become divorced from our hands-on, simple obedience. We say the right Sunday School answers, but have no real idea what to do next or, if we do know what to do, we have no intention of doing it. On top of this, we forget that life in Christ and obedience to Jesus' commands requires commitment and sacrifice. If we are unwilling to sacrifice we are never going to be willing to obey. There is always a cost involved with obedience. I also think we over-complicate things, whether by accident or on purpose. Most of what Jesus calls us to do requires little or no advanced planning, just a simple willingness to trust and obey. In that regard it would be better to act with the best of intentions and miss the mark sometimes than to wait around and not act at all.
What do we do? Here is a start: Talk
less . . . obey more . . . and ask God for help to first see and then remove
all the spiritual blind-spots in our lives.
What do you think? How have blind-spots formed in your life? What have you done or what do you need to do to move forward?
What do you think? How have blind-spots formed in your life? What have you done or what do you need to do to move forward?
ReplyDeleteResponse. Blind spots could form through apathy. To overcome them, wake up, take the first step in the right direction. You should find it to be the hardest.
Spending more time on meditation on the good things instead of wasting time on meaningless things. Honor God in everything and he will direct our paths.
ReplyDelete