October 22, 2024 Devo

October 22nd, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
Jesus & the Man Born Blind (John 9)
“Then they took the man who had been blind to the Pharisees, because it was on the Sabbath that Jesus had made the mud and healed him. The Pharisees asked the man all about it. So he told them, “He put the mud over my eyes, and when I washed it away, I could see!” Some of the Pharisees said, “This man Jesus is not from God, for he is working on the Sabbath.” Others said, “But how could an ordinary sinner do such miraculous signs?” So there was a deep division of opinion among them.” – John 9:13-16 (NLT)
“Get Rid of Your Box”

Don’t you just love how we put God in a box? We develop our own preconceived ideas of what God can and cannot do or how God can or cannot act and reject anything that happens differently. So much so that I think we sometimes miss some of the incredible ways God works.
Our passage today is a classic example. Jesus has just performed an incredible miracle. A man born blind now sees! But when people took the man to the Pharisees, THE PHARISEES became blind! They couldn’t see past their own boxes that they had put God in. Jesus couldn’t be a man of God because He “worked” on the Sabbath by putting mudpacks on the blind man’s eyes. They didn’t believe God could use a man like that. The God they had in their box had to operate according to THEIR rules about Him. Thankfully, God is BIGGER than their box!
God is bigger than OUR box as well! I know of a church that rents a strip bar on Sundays. Can God show up in a place where sin is blatant all week long? I know a woman who committed her life to Christ watching “The Chosen.” Can a person really get saved watching a movie? Can God really work through people who are “sinners?” Go back and read Joshua 2 about Rahab the harlot, and then read what Hebrews and James say about her.
God is bigger than the boxes we put Him in. He doesn’t conform to our rules about Him. He doesn’t operate in ways we always understand. And He doesn’t always use the kind of people we think He ought to use. God is out to accomplish His purposes in this world, and He’ll use the unlikely and work through the unworthy to do so. So get rid of your box, and embrace a God whose grace and power are more than you can imagine. And who knows? Maybe this God will even work through someone like YOU! That’s God’s Word for you today.