Without question….
John 6:60 Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? 61 When Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, Doth this offend you?
The Greek word for ‘hard’ here is the word ‘skleros’. This word does not mean ‘hard to understand’ but its true meaning is ‘hard to tolerate’.
So long as the crowd could not understand Him, they hung around and asked questions. It was when they did understand Jesus that they left Him. Why? Because what Jesus said was so contrary to their own views that they would not accept His saying.
People today often complain that God’s Word is hard but the real cause of the difficulty of the teaching is rather their unwillingness to accept what God’s Word commands.
They use the oft spoken lines, “I know the Bible says but….” Or they’ll come outright and say, “I don’t agree with what the Bible says about….”
I love what Pastor Greg Laurie said when he had been talking to a churchgoer who said to him, “They didn’t agree with the Bible’s stance on a certain subject.”
He said in response to their statement, “Then you had better change your thinking to God’s!”
We live in a world today where we see infants, being negotiated with by their parents. Usually its about matters of which the child is presently throwing a tantrum about in order to get their own way.
Is it no wonder then that we see grown-ups wanting God to negotiate with them about things they don’t agree with Him about? Or certain actions they are planning to carry out that they know are in direct disobedience to God’s Word on the matter.
The Bible tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom – Proverbs 9:10.
Therefore, let us in holy reverence to our Lord and Saviour, always be only following the example of the Apostle Paul – Act 9:6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?
This week, may you live your life in blessed and joyful obedience to God’s Holy Word.
For by doing so, God will begin to use you like you have never experienced before, and joy will be the by-product of such a willing and unquestioned obedience.