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Mark 6
When Jesus went to His hometown, “He could not do any miracles there, except lay His hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark 6:5). I can’t imagine this means that Jesus tried but failed because people just didn’t quite have enough faith for it to work. So what, then? I think maybe part of it is that people simply didn’t ask. We don’t ask for things that we don’t believe can happen.
We see several instances where Jesus performed miracles without being asked, though. The 5000 did not ask Jesus to feed them. They, however, were at least seeking Jesus, so there was some indication of faith among them. There were other times, though, when Jesus healed people who didn’t even know who He was. The demon possessed man we read about yesterday is one example, but there are others. Maybe Jesus knew those people’s hearts were ready to believe, even if they did not yet know. So besides not believing enough to even ask Jesus for help, there must have been something more. I think the key is at the end of verse 3. “And they took offense at Him.” It seems it wasn’t so much about what wasn’t in their hearts as it was about what was.
As a child of God, it is fair to say that I don’t take offense at Jesus. But taking offense is just one form of pride. So I think it’s also fair to say that pride in my heart is a block to God’s ability to work in and through me. Not because of God’s lack of ability, of course, but because of my own unwillingness. Perhaps this is what David meant when he prayed, “Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me.” (Ps. 19:13). “Willful”, in this instance, would equate to being full of my own will. Isn’t that what pride really is?
1 Sam. 25-26
Who is the hero in this story, and why? Abigail was a wise woman. And Nabal truly was a fool. I get the impression that Nabal did more than simply refuse to help David and his men. I have to think there was some kind of cultural hospitality code that he was breaking in doing so. So Nabal’s refusal to help was much more egregious than it appears to us today.
In addition to the cultural angle of his misdeed, Nabal also defied God in not helping David. It is clear from Abigail’s words that word had gotten around about God’s promises to David. So for Nabal to disrespect David saying, “Who is this David?” (1 Sam. 25:10a), showed a lack of fear for God. Leviticus 25:17 says, “Do not take advantage of each other, but fear your God.” Nabal clearly didn’t get that message.
David was not acting like a spoiled child here. It is quite likely that Nabal fully deserved what David intended to do to him. Abigail’s response gives much credence to that thought. Yet Abigail was not merely wise enough to understand the depth of her husband’s foolishness. She also understood the consequences of David’s intended response. Further, she had the wisdom to use this knowledge to save both David and her own household from a lot of unnecessary grief. May I learn from Abigail and gain wisdom from knowing her story.
Ps. 56
Pray this prayer aloud over a difficult situation or person that you’re facing. “All day long they twist my words” (Ps. 56:5a). Boy do I see a lot of that going around these days! It is another sign, or ‘fruit’, of the unrighteous. Righteousness seeks peace, truth, and understanding. But the wicked twist the truth and seek their own advantage.
And it isn’t just people twisting the words of other people to further their own agenda. They also twist God’s word. We need to be very careful when we study God’s word that we are truly seeking to hear what it says and not looking to justify our own desires. When ‘self’ gets involved, we start to twist things to support what we want to hear. We also need to be careful to not be led astray when others twist God’s word and we find what they say appealing. Look back in Genesis at Eve’s encounter with the serpent to see where that gets you.