Tuesday: Day 12

Jesus answered, “You faithless and perverse generation, how much longer must I be with you? How much longer must I put up with you?” Matthew 17:17

            Jesus seemed angry. And he was. He wasn’t angry because of what they were doing but because they weren’t doing what they could be doing.

            The disciples had tried to heal a man with epilepsy, but they couldn’t. So the man’s family brought the man to Jesus. And Jesus compared his disciples to a faithless and perverse generation, and lamented now much longer he would be with them.

            It was because the disciples weren’t doing what they could be doing. Think of it this way. In research on motivational theory, it’s been found that if you place a bunch of fleas in a shallow container, they’ll quickly jump out. However, if you take a lid and put it on that container, the fleas will jump and jump for a short time, but soon, when they sense their limits, they will quit jumping. And even when you remove the lid, instead of jumping out, they’ll remain in the container because they have been programmed that they can’t get past certain levels.

           In the same way, a circus elephant is trained as a baby by being tied to a heavy stake, secured in the ground. The young elephant quickly learns that when she feels a tug on her leg, no matter how hard she pulls, she can’t get away. By the time the elephant grows to be an adult, just as soon as she feels a tug on her leg, she quits pulling because she has learned there’s no use. A huge circus elephant is held in place by a small stake in the ground because that’s how she’s trained.

            Do you ever wonder if you’ve been programmed for mediocrity? Do you ever feel like those fleas that quit jumping, or the elephant that quits pulling?

            The Bible tells us that we are created for something extraordinary. We are knit together in our mother’s womb (Psalm 139:13) as people for whom Jesus would give his life. Several verses after our text for today Jesus explains his frustration with his programmed-for-mediocrity disciples by saying, “For truly I tell you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; for nothing will be impossible for you.” (Matthew 17:20)

            You are a mustard seed; the smallest of all the seeds, but one that grows to be the largest of all the shrubs. A life of faith is one of potential, of possibilities, and of amazing promise. Never underestimate the power of a mustard seed. Nor the powerful potential of your own faith.

                          

Questions to Ponder

• Have you ever accomplished something that you never thought you could be able to accomplish? Have you had an experience of something that was so much better than you ever imagined? What was it, and how did it feel?
• Do you feel you have a “mustard seed” faith? Or is it fully grown and developed? How would you explain your answer to others?

Prayer for Today: You gently call me into your presence, guiding my by your Holy Spirit. Teach me, dear Lord, to live all of my life through your eyes. I’m captured by your holy calling; set me apart, I know you’re drawing me to yourself. Lead me Lord, I pray. Amen.