“They scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And His sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in Him.” - Mark 6:3
Just…
Just a carpenter.
Just the son of Mary.
Just the brother.
This little word hit me with fresh eyes today, thinking how I can relate to where I’ve heard or accepted just in my life. So many in Jesus’ hometown of Nazareth didn’t believe He was Who He said He was, because they were so hung up on the just that they believed about Him.
Limiting ourselves to just what we think we know can blind us into not seeing things for how they truly are. We can do this to ourselves, to others, and to God.
If we stay focused on just who we were, then we may never grasp who God is calling us to be. We may miss out on a blessing that God has for us - a job, a relationship, an opportunity. If we view others with the same mindset, we may miss the privilege it is to know them as someone other than who they once were… or think it possible for them to do something incredible, beyond what they’ve done in the past.
In the same way, if we think we’ve figured out all of Who God is, and how He operates, and we confine Him to just doing things the way we’ve seen Him do them before, we limited ourselves from the beauty of seeing Him do a new work in and through us as well as in and through others. If our heart and mind aren’t aligned to listening to the Holy Spirit and following where He leads, we may even get offended and refuse to believe that any works outside our mindset could be of God because we’re so set in our own ways and our own beliefs.
Prayer Focus:
“Oh God, would you break down any just’s that I’ve built up in my life. Any place that I’ve limited myself or talked myself out of doing something that You’re leading me to, because I’m caught up with a just-mindset. Would you give me eyes to see others beyond what my past experience with them has been, knowing that You are a God that never desires to leave us in the state that You’ve found us. Give me a heart that is fully surrendered to You Lord, so that I would be so in tuned with the Holy Spirit that when You move, I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that it’s You. Help me to see beyond the just. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
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