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Today’s Bible reading plan:

Read it in a year – Luke 7-8

see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)

Today’s Devotional

Matthew 23:34-39
Jesus: That is why I am sending you prophets and wise men, teachers of breadth and depth and substance. You will kill some of them and crucify others. You will flog others in your synagogues. You will pursue them from town to town. And on your heads, stained through your hands and drenching your clothes, my friends, will be all the righteous blood ever shed on this earth, from the blood of innocent Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Berechiah whom you murdered in the house of the Lord between the sanctuary and the altar. I tell you: this generation will bear the blood of all that has gone before.

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem. You kill the prophets whom God gives you; you stone those God sends you. I have longed to gather your children the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you refuse to be gathered. Surely you can see that God has already removed His blessing from the house of Israel. I tell you this: you will not see Me again until you say, with the psalmist, “Anyone who comes in the name of the Eternal One will be blessed.”

What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?

I grew up in a parsonage. And I was ordained in my denomination twenty-five years ago, myself. So I’ve been around the pulpit a long time. One of the things I’ve learned in that time, is that a lot of people like to have the pastor for lunch. I’m not talking about inviting the pastor to their house to enjoy a meal together. I’m talking about carving the pastor up and devouring him or her over the dinner table. I didn’t know until I was a teenager how often my dad got criticism about his messages from the faithful few that just had to say something. And it was always the same few. And there were always a few in every congregation.

I discovered when I began filling pulpits the same thing happened. Most people seemed to appreciate what I had to say from the pulpit. It wasn’t always comfortable, but I always try to share what God places on my heart and invariably the message reaches the right people in the congregation. I never preach to individuals, but individuals get God’s message, often in a way I never expected. That’s how God works.

But some people will hand me a note or make a comment or send me an email and let me know I missed the mark. Do I realize the political state of the world today? I really need to preach about that. Do I understand how many people are being killed by gun violence today? I ought to have a sermon about that. Do I know how many babies die in abortions every year? Am I concerned about that?

It’s interesting how many times I’m given sermon topics that someone is sure God has spoken to them about and so is sure I should speak to the congregation about it. Well, it just doesn’t work quite that way. At least it doesn’t work that way in any of the homiletic classes I’ve even taken. So I usually thank them for their concern and let it go. I would hate to be as miserable as they appear when they pick apart sermon topics and miss what I’ve tried to talk about in that day’s message.

I think that’s what Jesus was telling the crowd of teachers and Pharisees gathered around Him that day. God sent teachers and prophets and wise men to them to help them understand God’s message, but instead of listening to their message, they had them for dinner. Criticizing everything those prophets and teachers and wise men tried to do to help them. Those Pharisees thought they knew better. They thought they knew the law better than God knew the law.

Pretty silly, isn’t it? God gave them the law. He sent the prophets. He put the words into the prophet and teachers’ mouths. Why did these governing priests, who continually fought for position and power think they knew more than those God sent?

The answer is pretty simple. The Bible tells us Satan puts a veil over our eyes. The analogy I like to use takes you back to elementary school days. Remember those hidden picture puzzles? The teacher would give us a picture and we would have to find the shovel and the comb and the pail and the apple and umbrella and other objects hidden in the picture. God’s truth in this world is like looking at that hidden picture. Satan has put a veil over our eyes and all we see is the picture until we deliberately exercise our faith in Him.

When we put our faith in God, the hidden objects appear. We see all those things we couldn’t see before. The truth stands out and every time we look at that picture, there are the hidden objects. We can’t help but see them from then on. The truth stares at us. We can try to ignore it, but we can’t. But first, we must exercise our faith in Him. So what are you waiting for? Want to know the truth? It’s there in plain sight. Take another look through the eyes of faith.

The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
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