HEEDING JESUS' WARNING TO "BEWARE!"

Today we want to look at a little story of Jesus and his disciples.  They are in a boat just after Jesus has once again fed thousands of people with just a few loaves. Here’s the story.

Now they had forgotten to bring bread, and they had only one loaf with them in the boat. And he cautioned them, saying, “Watch out; beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod.” And they began discussing with one another the fact that they had no bread. And Jesus, aware of this, said to them, “Why are you discussing the fact that you have no bread? Do you not yet perceive or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Having eyes do you not see, and having ears do you not hear?

And do you not remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” They said to him, “Twelve.”  “And the seven for the four thousand, how many baskets full of broken pieces did you take up?” And they said to him, “Seven.”  And he said to them, “Do you not yet understand?”  Mark 8:14-21

Watch out.  Beware.  Jesus is warning his friends to be careful about the impact of just a little unbelief based on what others were saying rather than on God’s Word; just a little worrying or complaining based on how Jesus did or didn’t do things according to their thoughts and plans- Watch out.  Beware.  These things can infiltrate our thoughts and mess up everything. Jesus used the example of yeast to help us understand.  A little yeast leavens a lot of dough

Jesus warns us that just letting our hearts be hardened and not taking the time to see and understand what God is doing can lead to our ultimate destruction.  We need to ask God’s Spirit to keep us at attention to what God is actually doing in all our circumstances and what our actions are meant to be to complement His plan.

Someone has said so well:  “When we harden our hearts even just a little bit and refuse to obey God on what we might consider a minor matter, we introduce leaven into our lives that can spread to other areas. It is imperative, therefore, that we regularly repent for our disobedience and seek to obey the Lord in all of life. We should be striving for obedience in all matters, not just the really ‘big’ ones.”

So today we want to pray and respond to Jesus when He tells us, “Beware”

Heavenly Father, we’re so grateful we don’t have to hide away in fear but we truly can live in this world and still not be of this world.  You showed us how to do that in Jesus and You’ve given us Your Holy Spirit to help us now put that lifestyle into practice in our world in our time.

And still Lord, somehow that word “beware” reminds us of things we need to “be aware of” and so we pray:

Help us Lord to be aware of defining life by our present circumstances rather than by Your promises and Your guiding principles for life.  Forgive us for seeing all kinds of things that You’ve done down through history, even in our own lives, yet failing to allow our understanding of You and Your ways in our lives to be changed by it. 

Help us again today, Lord, to be aware of the ways our fears get in the way of the moments of opportunity You present to us in the trials and challenges we face.  Most of all, help us to be aware of our need for faith to trust You and take You at Your word, believing that Your love and power will carry us safely through this day.

Fill us again today with Your Holy Spirit so we understand more than we ever have before and rise up in faith as we never have until now and represent Your truth better than ever before so Your kingdom comes and Your will is done here on earth as it is in heaven.  Amen