HE KNEW
Joh 2:24-25 But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, (25) and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.
Jesus had just begun His earthly ministry in the open. Water had been changed into wine and a dignitary's son was healed from afar through the spoken Word. {John Chaps 1-4}. Man had wrongly learned that there must be signs in order to believe. Disillusionment crept into man's heart when he was called to believe in faith.
Chambers writes that "disillusionment means having no more misconceptions, false impressions, and false judgments in life; it means being free from these deceptions.". These life-time learned experiences can often leave us cynical, hyper critical, and extremely judgmental of others. We begin to see others as they truly are, no illusions. We become "disillusioned"; the flaws are clearly visible.
Mar 8:23-24 Taking the blind man by the hand, He brought him out of the village; and after spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him, He asked him, "Do you see anything?" (24) And he looked up and said, "I see men, for I see them like trees, walking around."
When Jesus finished healing this man and he could see clearly, disillusionment began. The healed saw with his eyes the reality of life, including the flaws, errors, vileness, ugliness of what before was hidden.
The older we are, it seems, the harsher we react to this reality. We become reactionary toward those who do not fit our very narrow molds of what we think we know. It is a myth that the older we get in years, the smarter we become. It may even be the inverse. In that premise might be found God's direction to those walking in His way. Not confrontation. Not hostility. Not argument. Not public rebuke. No, Jesus teaches us to be firm and steadfast in our love. An old adage sums it up well; Listen, listen, love, love.
As children we looked forward to what we might gain and learn. In our dotage we desperately try to hold onto learned memories which we seem to be losing. Even Godly men struggle with this reality as it closes in. Some elders become very stubborn and harsh in their counsel.
Be humble, be patient, be loving as you hear the voice and opinion of the disillusioned senior servant of God. His desire is that you see what he sees and has seen, urging you to gird your loins for what is to come.
He has no patience for the idle.
Deu 7:6-7 "For you are a holy people to the LORD your God; the LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His own possession out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. (7) "The LORD did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any of the peoples, for you were the fewest of all peoples.
HAVE YOU READ YOUR BIBLE TODAY?
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