Our 2024 grand boys are now nine and five months. Timothy is crawling at warp speed in his own unique little manner, left leg curled under ready to sit up in a skinny minute. He’s pulling up and just this week, he’s also climbing stairs. Cruising and toddling are just breaths away. Ezra already inches his way from one end of his crib to the other nightly in a very efficient army crawl, and anytime he’s placed on his back lying down, he immediately flips over. He’s scooting around, mostly backwards, in his activity walker. Both boys just want to do everything their older siblings are doing, especially running.
One thing I know for certain as I watch this next generation grasping for independence daily is that sooner or later, they will stumble and fall. Timothy has already toppled over and had a few good cries before righting himself, usually after being comforted by his mama. Ezra seems to be very coordinated, much like his older sister, but he’ll endure his share of bumps before he’s confidently walking. I watch all this with bated breath, wanting to be there to catch them when they stumble but knowing that you can be right next to them and still be unable to break their fall.
Jesus had a moment much like this, I believe, when he warned his disciples against the deceit of the Jewish leaders. His warning sounds a lot like our modern phrase, “practice what you preach,” and he didn’t hold back as he blasted the teachers of the Law and the Pharisees for their duplicity. His righteous indignation matches the ferocity of His display in the temple when He overturned the tables of the moneychangers and we immediately see His motive.
““Jerusalem! Jerusalem! You kill the prophets and throw stones in order to kill those who are sent to you.
Many times I have wanted to gather your people together. I have wanted to be like a hen who gathers her chicks under her wings.
And you would not let me!”
Matthew 23:37 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/mat.23.37.NIRV
“And why was that?”
Paul answers.
“Because they did not pursue the path of faith but insisted on pursuing righteousness by works, as if it could be seized another way.
They were offended by the means of obtaining it and stumbled over the stumbling stone, just as it is written: “Be careful!
I am setting in Zion a Stone that will cause people to stumble, a Rock of offense that will make them fall, but believers in Him will not experience shame.””
Romans 9:32-33 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/rom.9.32-33.TPT
Apparently some of the leaders came extremely close to believing Jesus was God incarnate, the promised Messiah, the Lamb of God come to take the sins of the world on Himself, but they stumbled and to our knowledge, they may never have recovered. Only eternity will tell.
“Nevertheless, even many of the leading men believed in Him [as Savior and Messiah], but because of the Pharisees they would not confess it, for fear that [if they acknowledged Him openly] they would be put out of the synagogue (excommunicated); for they loved the approval of men more than the approval of God.”
John 12:42-43 AMP
https://bible.com/bible/1588/jhn.12.42-43.AMP
“That was because they didn’t believe in God. They didn’t trust in his power to save them.”
Psalm 78:22 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/psa.78.22.NIRV
Paul continues.
“If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.
For “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him?
And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him?
And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent?
That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”
But not everyone welcomes the Good News, for Isaiah the prophet said, “Lord, who has believed our message?”
So faith comes from hearing, that is, hearing the Good News about Christ.
But I ask, have the people of Israel actually heard the message?
Yes, they have: “The message has gone throughout the earth, and the words to all the world.”
But I ask, did the people of Israel really understand?
Yes, they did, for even in the time of Moses, God said, “I will rouse your jealousy through people who are not even a nation. I will provoke your anger through the foolish Gentiles.”
And later Isaiah spoke boldly for God, saying, “I was found by people who were not looking for me. I showed myself to those who were not asking for me.”
But regarding Israel, God said, “All day long I opened my arms to them, but they were disobedient and rebellious.””
Romans 10:9-10, 13-21 NLT
https://bible.com/bible/116/rom.10.9-21.NLT
Amelia is two and her favorite word is no, followed by I don’t want it. She still wakes up on the wrong side of the bed as much as not, and she seems unable to put her little finger on what ails her. She asks for something, often something very specific, and then refuses it in the same breath. She wants to be held exactly when you pick up baby Ezra. She wants something she can’t name from everyone around her and once she’s found what makes her happy, she doesn’t want it to end. Currently it’s swinging in the baby swing in the garage. She’s big enough for the rocket ship swing and she loves to swing high, but being a baby again for awhile seems more interesting.
The grass is always greener we think. It starts young.
“You jealously want what others have so you begin to see yourself as better than others.
You scheme with envy and harm others to selfishly obtain what you crave—that’s why you quarrel and fight.
And all the time you don’t obtain what you want because you won’t ask God for it!
And if you ask, you won’t receive it for your asking with corrupt motives, seeking only to fulfill your own selfish desires.”
James 4:2-3 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/jas.4.2-3.TPT
Faith sees differently, prays differently, acts differently. Faith fixes our eyes on eternal things. Faith doesn’t long for the kinds of things this world offers. Faith understands that God made everything from nothing and He will reduce everything we can see to nothing so we choose, by faith, to live differently, to live holy and godly lives. (Genesis 3:19, II Peter 3:10)
“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living.
It’s our handle on what we can’t see.
The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd.”
Hebrews 11:1-2 MSG
https://bible.com/bible/97/heb.11.1-2.MSG
“Faith is being sure of what we hope for. It is being sure of what we do not see.
That is what the people of long ago were praised for.
We have faith. So we understand that everything was made when God commanded it.
That’s why we believe that what we see was not made out of what could be seen.
Without faith it is impossible to please God.
Those who come to God must believe that he exists.
And they must believe that he rewards those who look to him.”
Hebrews 11:1-3, 6 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/heb.11.1-6.NIRV
“Now faith brings our hopes into reality and becomes the foundation needed to acquire the things we long for.
It is all the evidence required to prove what is still unseen.”
Hebrews 11:1 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/heb.11.1.TPT
Jesus asked his disciples the most important question they would ever need to answer. Rumors were flying about this new prophet, this teacher, this miracle worker. Who do people say that I am? They knew. They’d probably been stopped in the marketplace, in the synagogue, in their hometowns and quizzed about their Rabbi. They’d been seen with him regularly enough and His celebrity or notoriety brought out the first century paparazzi. What’s He like? What’s His favorite dish? Who is He seeing? Where does He like to hang out? Did He really heal with an only a word? Did he touch a leper and raise the dead? How could he forgive an adulteress? What’s the real scoop?
““But what about you?” Jesus asked. “Who do you say I am?”
Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah. You are the Son of the living God.”
Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon, son of Jonah! No mere human showed this to you. My Father in heaven showed it to you.
Here is what I tell you. You are Peter.
On this rock I will build my church. The gates of hell will not be strong enough to destroy it.”
Matthew 16:15-18 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/mat.16.15-18.NIRV
What about you? Who do you say Jesus is? Your answer to this one question matters more than anything else in your entire life.
“So keep coming to him who is the Living Stone —though he was rejected and discarded by men but chosen by God and is priceless in God’s sight.
Come and be his “living stones” who are continually being assembled into a sanctuary for God.
For now you serve as holy priests, offering up spiritual sacrifices that he readily accepts through Jesus Christ.
For it says in Scripture: Look! I lay a cornerstone in Zion, a chosen and priceless stone! And whoever believes in him will certainly not be disappointed.
As believers you know his great worth—indeed, his preciousness is imparted to you.
But for those who do not believe: The stone that the builders rejected and discarded has now become the cornerstone and a stone that makes them stumble and a rock to trip over.
They keep stumbling over the message because they refuse to believe it.
And this they were destined to do. But you are God’s chosen treasure —priests who are kings, a spiritual “nation” set apart as God’s devoted ones.
He called you out of darkness to experience his marvelous light, and now he claims you as his very own.
He did this so that you would broadcast his glorious wonders throughout the world.”
1 Peter 2:4-9 TPT
https://bible.com/bible/1849/1pe.2.4-9.TPT
“The Lord replies, “Write down the message I am giving you.
Write it clearly on the tablets you use. Then a messenger can read it and run to announce it.
The message I give you waits for the time I have appointed.
It speaks about what is going to happen. And all of it will come true.
It might take a while. But wait for it.
You can be sure it will come.
It will happen when I want it to.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3 NIRV
https://bible.com/bible/110/hab.2.2-3.NIRV
“The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think.
No, he is being patient for your sake.
He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved.”
2 Peter 3:9, 15 NLT
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