July 6, 2024 Devo

Some years ago, I was attending our church group’s national convention. There were a few families from our church that were there as well. I was having lunch with one of the couples one day that week, and the wife was going on and on about one of the conferences she had attended the day before. It was a conference on what churches need to do to grow and reach their community. She was excited and animated as she was telling me what she had learned. Suddenly, she stopped and said, “Wait a minute! This is the stuff you’ve been telling us ever since you came to our church!” I smiled and nodded. At home, I was just the pastor. You have to go fifty miles away to be “the expert.”
This is what Jesus is getting at in our passage today. It didn’t matter if He was God Almighty in the flesh. It didn’t matter if He was All-Wise and All-Powerful. It didn’t matter if He was Creator, Redeemer, and Messiah. As far as most of the people who had known Him for years were concerned, He was just Jesus. They had seen Him grow up. They knew His background and His humble beginnings. In their eyes, He was just another one of the kids from the neighborhood following in his father’s footsteps in the carpenter’s shop. That’s why it was so hard for them to comprehend that He was so much more.
Sometimes we have to keep this principle in mind. It’s often easier for people near to us to receive feedback, correction, and advice from someone else other than us. That’s why our kids, parents, or spouse may be slower to accept the help we’re trying to give them. It’s frustrating because we can see so clearly what they need to do or what the right choice may be. But to them, we’re just “Dad” or “Daughter.” Even if we’re smart or experienced in the area where they need help, getting past who we are is not always easy to do. You’re not far enough away from them to be an “expert.”
Two takeaways for you today about this. One, don’t take the rejection of your good ideas to people close in personally. And don’t nag them or harass them about it. As silly as it seems, let them pay money to talk to someone else who knows less than you. They’ll hear it better sometimes. Helping them is the point, not stroking your ego. Two, let this lesson help YOU receive advice or correction from someone near to you. Believe it or not, your spouse or parent DOES have something worth listening to. Don’t let the dynamics of personal relationships get in the way of hearing something God may want to say to you. Sometimes the prophets of God are disguised as someone we know. That’s God’s Word for you today.