Amen, I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own native place. Luke 4:24
It is a strange quirk of human nature that we prize the rare and unattainable, and what we deem commonplace or ordinary, we despise, especially not appreciating the true worth of what we actually have before us.
Here we first have Naaman the leper presented with a simple solution on how to cure his leprosy and he got upset with the suggestion until it was pointed out to him that if he were told by Elisha the prophet to do something extraordinary for a cure he would have complied immediately.
Then we have Jesus preaching in his own home town, Nazareth, where the people got furious at the veracity of His words and wanted to do violence to Him. They could not accept that Yahweh through the prophets blessed the Gentiles rather than Jews in the two instances Jesus quoted. Rather than repent and be as receptive as the Gentiles were, they chose to reject Jesus whom they could not see was the Messiah because He was nothing special in their eyes.
Are we guilty of such behaviour ourselves, allowing pride and stubbornness to rule our minds and hearts? Do we actually see God’s hand in the hours as we go about our day, where He protects, guides and blesses us not only in big things but the smallest ones? Or are we blind to His beneficence and generally dissatisfied with what we receive, deeming His gifts puny and his assistance lacklustre?
Cultivating a trusting reliance on God requires a heart turned to Him in constant prayer for this alone will help us recognize Him in our midst, and to come to Him with a suitably grateful and open heart for all the minor miracles in our lives. Only then will we accept the common humanity of Jesus, and welcome wholeheartedly the Son of Man who walks with us. And then we will see and hear Him in the mundane circumstance and everyone we encounter today.
No comments:
Post a Comment