July 20, 2024 Devo

July 20th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Jesus at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15)
Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” – John 5:9-10 (NLT)
“God Is Bigger than Your Box”

I remember some years ago coming to an amazing discovery: I will never be able to fully wrap my mind around God. Have you come to that conclusion yet? I had six years of college Bible and theological training. I was taught how to read the Bible, interpret the Bible, and understand the Bible. I had classes on theology that taught me about who God is, how God works, and described in detail the nature of the church, the trinity, and how God interacts with the world. But after all that training, and all those years of study, I have a confession to make. God still operates in ways and does things that absolutely make no sense to me.
In many ways, my walk with God is a lot like getting married. I thought I knew what love was. I thought I knew how marriage was supposed to work. I even prided myself as a guy who KNEW how women are. I thought I was fully prepared for marriage and all its challenges. I even thought I was fully prepared for raising kids since I had obviously been one myself. I discovered in short order I knew NOTHING. Nothing about women, nothing about marriage, and nothing about kids. It has been a learn-as-you-grow process.
It’s been the same with God. Like the Jewish leaders in our passage, I had God in a box. “Here’s how He can and can’t operate.” Since it was the Sabbath, God couldn’t do a miracle. And God wouldn’t tell someone to “pick up their mat and walk.” But the leaders made a discovery that we all have to make. God is bigger than the box we put Him in. If God made the Sabbath, He can do whatever He wants on that day. Even if it doesn’t fit in our theological framework.
So, what kind of box have YOU put God in lately? One that says He can only work through certain kinds of people? One that says that people can only get saved at an altar, in a church, or at a camp? The moment you start hearing yourself say words like, “God won’t,” or “God doesn’t,” or “God will never,” you might just stop talking. Because the moment you begin to try to fit God into your framework of understanding, He’ll stretch your thinking. Because God is bigger than your box. That’s God’s Word for you today.