Lord Jesus,
I come before you in the quiet of this new day, as the world awakens and my thoughts slowly gather. Today, I wish to reflect on your visit to Nazareth, your hometown.
How quickly the people who knew you from childhood confined you to their own expectations. They saw the carpenter, Mary’s son, the boy from the neighborhood, and in this familiarity, they overlooked God.
Lord, how often I make the same mistake. I have grown so accustomed to you, to your presence in my life, that I take you for granted. I know the stories about you, yet I do not truly see you.
My heart asks the same question, full of doubt and incomprehension:
“Where did this man get these things?” they asked. “What’s this wisdom that has been given him? What are these remarkable miracles he is performing?” (Mark 6:2)
Help me to understand that your way is not the way of human logic. You chose simplicity to shame my pride and worldly wisdom.
“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27)
Open my spiritual eyes, so that I will not be like the “person without the Spirit,” who cannot accept your gifts because they seem like foolishness to him.
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
Lord, Shatter My Preconceived Notions of You
Like your countrymen, I too sometimes stumble over you. I stumble because I expect you to act in a certain way, according to my rules and within the timelines I set.
And when that does not happen, my heart closes itself off. In those moments, your sorrowful words echo to me, spoken also over my own stubbornness:
“Jesus said to them, ‘A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home.’” (Mark 6:4)
The worst consequence of this hometown blindness was not your rejection, but their loss. Because of their unbelief, you were powerless. This thought shakes me to the core. How many miracles have you wanted to perform in my life, but could not because of my unbelief?
“He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” (Mark 6:5)
Their unbelief grew into anger and hatred, which nearly cost you your life. O God, how thin the line is between doubt and outright rejection.
“They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him off the cliff.” (Luke 4:29)
Give Me Faith That Surpasses Understanding
Lord, today I choose faith. I do not want you to be amazed at my lack of faith. I want to be one who allows you to work. I want to hear your resounding call, which echoes through the Gospel and invites me to trust.
“‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” (Mark 9:23)
I believe, Lord, that you are the Son of God, who entered our history to save us.
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law,” (Galatians 4:4)
I ask you, do not be just the carpenter’s son to me, but enter, O King of glory, into this day of mine. Do not let my familiarity with you become an obstacle to your work. Be my God, my Savior, and my Wonder-Worker.
Amen.
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