Because I am becoming increasingly concerned with the inability of American Christians to live out their faith in a practical and realistic way that does not require fanaticism about issues and politics, I thought it would be good to move through some teachings of Jesus and discuss how these teachings actually live out in daily life.
I am no expert but I hope to bring a thoughtful and reasoned approach. Plus, I am a disciple of Jesus and he has taught me a few things over the years. The main focus will be Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount.
Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, 2 and he began to teach them. Matthew 5:1-2
This happened right after scripture tells us that Jesus traveled the countryside healing the sick and demon possessed. The pattern of Jesus ministry is healing then teaching. The two go hand in hand. He rarely taught without also healing and rarely healed without also teaching.
Do we only want Jesus’ healing and dismiss his teaching? Do we come to him so that he can make us whole but when he then has something to tell us that may be more important than our healing we turn our back on him? How selfish can we be? The crowds that followed Jesus weren’t satisfied with the healing. They followed him because he was unique, powerful, and wise. What would happen if you sought only Jesus’ teaching? Would the healing disappear or be unimportant? I don’t think so, but I do think our lives would begin a well-ordered transformation.
Action: Ask yourself what you want to learn from Jesus? What aspect of Jesus’ life and teaching would benefit your life? Pray that you will learn from Jesus how to make this change in your life.
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