Welcome to 2021
It only took six months for me to realize that I hadn't changed the date on the midweek emails. (Did you notice? Did you notice and just not tell me?! What else aren't you telling me?!!)
LOL
In Matthew 16:1-4 Jesus criticizes the Pharisees and Sadducees for asking Him to "show them a sign from heaven." He answers, "You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times."
Jesus is saying, You are good at interpreting appearances and events that have no ultimate significance, but you are not at all able to discern when God's Kingdom is moving among you. You're paying attention to things that don't matter so closely that you're not able to see obvious and important things happening under your nose.
After that altercation, Jesus warns His disciples: "Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees." (Mat 16:6) And then, as if to prove His point, "they began discussing among themselves saying, 'We brought no bread'."
LOL
Sometimes we get caught up in things that don't matter. Sometimes we get caught in ruts that prevent us from seeing what's important.
It makes me wonder: What are we paying close attention to that has no eternal significance? Are we watching things closely that are of no real value? We want to know the future, but we can't see what's happening now. And when Jesus warns us to "beware" of real spiritual dangers, we think He's talking about "bread" or some similar silliness.
If we don't want to be like the Pharisees and Sadducees, or like the disciples in this story, then we need to humbly withdraw from the preoccupations we share with our culture, and to humbly slow down in our knee-jerk interpretations, and to humbly step back from our assumptions. We need to humbly, with prayerful and careful hearts, return to Christ and to His Word. We need to live more slowly, paying attention to the Spirit of God.
We don't want to be good at telling the weather when we should be paying attention to the movement of Christ's Kingdom. We don't want to misunderstand Jesus and think He's talking about "bread" when He's talking about a culture of presumption and useless preoccupation.
We don't want to miss Jesus or what His Spirit is at work around us doing.
SIGH
Sometimes it's midway through 2021 before you realize your email heading still says "2020." We're not always great at noticing, are we? Let's slow down and pay attention.
Photo by Jason Leung on Unsplash
