Reading your Bible for today November 2

November 2: John 7:40-44

KJV Key Verse: John 7:43
43 So there was a division among the people because of him.

Devotion:
If you look back in history you will always find evidence of wars and disputes which come down to basic religious beliefs. The more fanatical people are, the more they want to defend their religion. The rules and regulations which God passed on to the Israelites could be taken as being fanatical if carried out of context. How sad it is to know that there are many people that are taken in by things others say rather than by things that Christ says.

The men that were in the temple at the time Jesus was there were in a bit of a state. Some of them knew this was Christ who stood before them, some thought He was only a prophet, and yet others wanted to surmise there was something wicked about Him. Yet all this time Jesus did not bash them round the head to try and beat sense into them! His simple message was that He was there to proclaim God because God had sent Him.

His warning to them was stark – the only way they could get to heaven was through believing in Him. Yet they did not want to give in to anyone who would go against the teachings of the high council who had not announced this was Christ, so they did not want to believe... they were too caught up in what other people were saying they could not see the truth!

Our knowledge may be vast when compared to animals, but it is of no comparison to Christ. We cannot know what it is like to be able to know everything, to be able to hear people think... But imagine what Christ put himself through each time He got up to speak – listening to the thoughts of those around as they weighed up the odds as to whether this was Christ indeed, putting Him down in favour of others men's ideals. What is the difference between what these men were doing and gossip? Not much really... they were spreading words which had no backbone, words which had no foundation. Yet Christ would tell the truth and they would not hear it!

Points to Ponder:
How many people do you believe just because they tell you something?

Do you believe what the bible tells you?