authority
i was reading this morning in mark 1 when Jesus starts his ministry and he’s in Capernaum on a sabbath day. some possessed dude comes up and calls him out, to which he quickly shuts the demon up and casts him out of the man. the part of this story that amazes me is the peoples reaction. they respond with amazement. not over the situation, but over the fact that Jesus teaches with AUTHORITY!
what had they been listening to? where they content listening to it? i mean Jesus is at the temple when this all goes down, he’s in the middle of a bunch of people who have been around the torah and listened to it’s teaching time and time again. they weren’t dummies, but when they saw the power demonstrated through the teachings of Jesus they were amazed.
i feel to often in my own journey through the Holy Scriptures i lose sight of the power and authority that it has in my life and when spoken out loud. if i’m supposed to be like Jesus, i’ve gotta understand that i’m preaching from the same Word and it still has that same authority that it had when Jesus was teaching from it! do people look on in amazement at the Word of God when i teach (not look on in amazement at the teacher…huge difference!)? God’s Words to us bring joy, blessing, peace, redemption, security, power, encouragement…are people receiving that?!
Lord allow me to be a teacher who’s excited about your Word and people are drawn more into their relationship with you and your passion for them. Will they desire to meet with you through your Word to see the blessings and love you have for them…
