My two Bible readings are coming together. I read Matthew for my weekly Sunday School class and I have been reading Revelation for the blog. Yesterday, in Matthew, I read about the Pharisees and the Sadducees asking Jesus for a sign from heaven. Jesus refuses to play their little game and basically tells them that they wouldn’t recognize a sign from heaven if they saw one. The Pharisees and the Sadducees were looking for knowledge about God not God.
Jesus knew this about the Pharisees and Sadducees and he cautions his disciples to not follow their ways of pursuing head knowledge without the heart change. Jesus knew that even if he brought down a sign from heaven, that it wouldn’t make any difference to his testers.
Then today, I am reading Revelation 16 and read about the seven angels pouring out the seven bowls of God’s wrath. As each bowl is being poured out, John, the writer of Revelation, tells us that there are people who are cursing God and refusing to repent of their deeds. These people have no doubt about who is reponsible for the plaques they are experiencing but that doesn’t turn their heart towards God.
You see, the people who are the subjects of God’s wrath are receiving blatant signs from heaven and instead of realizing that God is who he says he is and they better recognize this, they remain cold and hard toward God. There is no question in the minds of these people that God exist and that he is all powerful and in charge. Still, there is no heart change. Why? Because knowledge about God is not the same as knowing God; accepting him, following him, and worshiping him.
Are you so interested in God proving himself to you that if he did you wouldn’t know the difference? Are you blinded by a desire for signs and wonders and missing the person of Jesus wanting to work in your heart and turn you into a new creation?
Grow Up Blog 