60 Many of His disciples said, “This is very hard to understand. How can anyone accept it?” 61 Jesus was aware that His disciples were complaining, so He said to them, “Does this offend you? 62 Then what will you think if you see the Son of Man ascend to heaven again? 63 The Spirit alone gives eternal life. Human effort accomplishes nothing. And the very words I have spoken to you are spirit and life. 64 But some of you do not believe me.” (For Jesus knew from the beginning which ones didn’t believe, and He knew who would betray Him.) 65 Then He said, “That is why I said that people can’t come to me unless the Father gives them to me.” 66 At this point many of His disciples turned away and deserted Him. 67 Then Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Are you also going to leave?” 68 Simon Peter replied, “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words that give eternal life. 69 We believe, and we know you are the Holy One of God.” ~ John 6:60-69 NLT
Jesus made many disciples of those who would follow Him. Some of these were even chosen before the Twelve Apostles, yet they walked away because of a difficult teaching to grasp. Many of us in the Church today do the same thing. We want to follow Jesus. In fact, we’ve been following Him for many years. Some our whole lives, but then we come across something that we just can’t wrap our minds around, and it causes us to run from God instead of to Him. A very famous celebrity couldn’t come to grips with how God could be jealous, so she not only walked away from Him, but she created an entirely new religion. And in doing so, she has led so many others astray as well.
See, God’s thoughts are far above our thoughts. His ways are far above our ways. In other words, it’s difficult for us mere mortals to grasp all that Jesus said. So, instead of seeking God for understanding, we get upset and walk away. Many of us have down this. It could be a simple verse or an entire theology, but nevertheless, we walk away because of a lack of understanding. This is dangerous. Why? Because there’s no evidence that those disciples who did this repented and came back to follow Christ. The LORD warns that if we refuse to follow His ways, we’ll be given over to a reprobate mind. Therefore, love the LORD and all of His ways. Serve the LORD with gladness. He will never withhold good from you. His desire is for your good. Therefore, trust in Him, and He will guide you into paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Peace. Love. Go Forth and Don’t Be Offended By The Word.
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