Even after Jesus had performed so many signs in their presence, they still would not believe in him. John 12:37

 

Our Human Stubbornness

 

Jesus healed the sick, raised the dead, confounded the wise, overcame the impossible, and showed men and women unprecedented compassion. Yet the very people who witnessed these things stubbornly concluded that they still would not believe in him. Their reason? He did things according to his own agenda, not theirs. And the truth is, we aren't very different from those people who saw Jesus up close and personal two thousand years ago.

 

There is an old story of one particularly stubborn young boy who wrote God a letter about the Christmas presents he badly wanted: "T've been good for six months now," he wrote. After a moment's reflection, the boy crossed out six months and wrote three months. After a pause, he crossed that out and replaced it with two weeks. After still another pause, he erased that too.

 

The boy then got up from the table and went over to the little nativity scene that included figures of Mary and Joseph. He picked up the figure of Mary and went back to his writing. He started again: "Dear God, if ever you want to see your mother

again …"

 

We have a tendency to make deals with God, don't we? We have the attitude that we will believe in him if he comes through for us. But if he dares to be sovereign and do things according to his own plan, we turn away from him in disappointment.

 

When we base our faith on how God responds to our selfish requests, we are sure to be disappointed. But when we believe in him as the sovereign God who knows what is best for us and for his kingdom, we will live a powerful, life-changing faith.

 

Oh Lord, give me a pure faith, one that isn't based on selfish, stubborn

desires.

 

Taken from “Devotions for Men on the Go” by Stephen Arterburn and Bill Farrel June 8