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Monday, May 28, 2012

A heart that will not change

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Hosanna in the highest heaven! - Matthew 21:9
This verse speaks to me in a most unusual way; even though it is a public confirmation of Jesus' messianic ministry by the people of Jerusalem, shortly after we see this same people shouting "Crucify him", instead of "Hosanna" and "Blessed is he".

What could possibly have happened to those people to have them change their minds so fast? For one they were not expecting a spiritual redeemer, but a political one, since they did not understand what the old testament prophecies were really about.

For two, they were interested not on a new way of life proclaimed by the messiah, named by him as 'the kingdom of heaven', a way of forgiveness, love, sharing and respect; rather, they were self-centered, interested only in the miracles he could perform, the bread and fish he was able to multiply, the diseases he was able to heal, the demons he was able to cast out.

For three their faith was based on a very fragile, without substance, foundation: circumstances, what they could see, the miracles, their expectations, instead of on the person of Jesus, on what scripture really said about the Father and the Son.

But instead of being fast on judging them, let us examine ourselves to see if we are not traveling through exactly the same road: are we interested in Jesus as our Lord, or only as our Savior? What kind of expectations we have put on Jesus? Have we treated Him as some sort of genius in a lamp, or have we humbled ourselves in His presence in obedience, acknowledging that He, not we, is the master, and we, not He, are the servants? Have we lived our lives as He commanded us to, as He himself lived, a life of loving, and forgiving, and sharing, or have we pursued only our selfish desires, treating others as a means to achieving our goals? What has been the foundation of our faith, the person of Jesus, his sacrifice, his cross, his resurrection, the reassuring love of our Father, the ministry of reconciliation operated in our hearts by his Holy Spirit, or on what He can do to us, on what He can give to us? Have we truly understand what He came here to do, the whole purpose of his life and death?

In only a few days the Jews turned from accepting Jesus as their king, to accusing him of treason and crucifying him. But honestly, who can really say we don't do that, 'almost' (?) on a daily basis, over the smallest of reasons and disappointments? Our hearts keep changing with every wind that blows, our faith stumbles as we don't really trust the one we call Lord. Even if we don't publicly shout 'crucify him' as they did, that's exactly what we keep on doing in our hearts every time we fail to forgive others of their sins, every time we ask him in prayer for something we should know it's not his will, and how could it be if it is selfish, if it serves only to glorify ourselves instead of him?

My prayer today is that: 1) the Lord Jesus forgive me for not trusting Him, or for not trusting Him for the right reasons; 2) that He gives me a firm, constant heart, a heart that will not change overnight, a heart that each and every day confirms, by trusting, by obeying, by loving, by forgiving, what my mouth says I believe.

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