Note: The scripture has a link that will take you to an online, King James bible
if you would like to read the whole chapter.
Observation: Jesus is speaking to the chief priests in this scripture... to those that portrayed themselves to be religious above all else. But their religion was missing something important... a broken and contrite heart. They had the outward profession, but were missing the inward relationship with Christ. According to verse 32 of this chapter, they had never repented and believed. They never took action...
Application: The life of a Christian does not consist of sitting on the sidelines... even when God pulls you out of the heat of battle... there is still action to be taken. Everything in the Christian life revolves around action... our's and Christ's. Jesus Christ took action... He left the glory and riches of heaven and was born here on earth as the most humble of men, to live a life of sorrows and compassion. He laid down His life when He willingly died on the cross of Calvary in our place, and He rose again, victorious over death and hell. That sounds like a life packed with action to me. In fact, never in the bible do we hear of Jesus sitting on the sidelines and doing nothing (waiting for the right moment, yes... doing nothing, no....) As a Christian, our new life begins with an action... trust. We come to Jesus (notice this!!!) broken and contrite, realizing we are a sinner that deserves eternity in hell. Then, we trust Him to pick up the pieces and make us whole again by His saving grace. The first step of salvation is action. We must come... and then, we must trust... In my own life, I know that without that brokenness that came from falling upon the stone which the builders had rejected (vs 42). When we come to the stumbling block that is none other that Christ, we must choose to act. We can either fall, broken and contrite before the Lord or Lord, or we can resist and one day, when the end of our time comes, we will be utterly destroyed.
Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, Please take this post and use it to draw someone close to You today. Lord, You know that this is not what I intended to write about... You know that this was not the message that You spoke to my heart about today. So Lord, as my written words have taken such a drastic turn today, I pray that You would direct them to the one who is waiting to hear them... to the one who is facing that choice today. Lord, thank You for breaking my heart... and more than that Lord, for healing my broken heart. Lord, thank You for making me whole through Your love and grace. I know Lord, that You will do the same for everyone who comes to You... for everyone who chooses to lay aside their will and their pride and falls at the foot of that Stone. Thank You Lord, for saving my soul. I pray that there would be rejoicing in heaven today over the one soul that reads this and repents. In Jesus name, amen.
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