With a Subtitle: Try to listen and obey God without offering up any reasons or excuses as to why not. Take Him at His Word and be prepared to see His glory.
A brief Excerpt: John 11:39 is used to illustrate how people often offer excuses to God, as Martha did when Jesus told her to remove the stone from Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus, however, is focused on a greater purpose, the glory of God, and wants us to have faith and obey without hesitation.
Scripture
Our verse for today comes from John 11:39, “Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.'”
Background
Sometimes we just can’t help ourselves, can we? No matter how hard we try, sometimes we just can’t resist saying something we shouldn’t. And I’m not talking about saying something unkind or ugly. I’m talking about the spouse who has to give advice while the other is trying to maneuver through stop-and-go traffic. I’m talking about the child who has the knack for pointing out that one task that went undone that you said you would accomplish today. We’ve all opened our mouths when we probably shouldn’t have. And when it comes to our Lord, too often the things we say back to Him are not only ridiculous, they can be in direct opposition to His will or our hope. Martha was devastated by the loss of her brother, yet here she has the Son of God telling them to roll back the stone so He can raise him up. And she immediately offers up some meaningless excuse, as if she’d prefer to leave Lazarus in the tomb, which we know she wouldn’t. She can’t help but remind Him of the stench and length of time of his deteriorating body, as if that is something He might not be able to overcome.
Application
But overcoming death is like a drop in the bucket for Jesus, as Isaiah might say. He certainly didn’t need Martha to explain the matters of physiology to Him. In fact, raising Lazarus was actually only a means to a greater end. He loved Lazarus and his sisters, but He was thinking about bigger things. He told Martha that if she would believe, then she would see not only a risen Lazarus, but the glory of God. And that is where we always fail in our rebuttals to Jesus. We are focused on the why not or the how to, and Jesus is so far past that, wanting us to see the glory of God. We might get caught up in the ways and means to make something happen, but Jesus has already told us to just roll the stone away. His glory is waiting on the other side of faith and obedience. So let’s believe what He says. Let’s do what He says. No excuses.
Charge
As we seek Him today, try to listen to and obey God without offering up any reasons or excuses as to why not. Take Him at His Word and be prepared to see His glory.
Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words
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