“He (Jesus) replied, ‘The mystery of the kingdom of God has been given to you, but to those on the outside everything is expressed in parables, so that they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven.'” Mark 4:11-12
I like to work puzzles… sometimes. Tho they say it keeps my brain sharp, I don’t really do puzzles for that purpose. To be honest, most of the time I do it because I’m bored. I was taking a few minutes to play Sudoku and the game told me I’d get a prize if I finish within 6 minutes. 2 minutes into the game, the screen flashed and all my input was lost. Hmmmmm!
Every Christmas I make it a point to read and think on the Christmas Story from Matthew and Luke. God NEVER fails to show me a LOT of new stuff I had never noticed before. This year, I have been impressed with the number of times the Old Testament prophecy has been fulfilled. The guys (Matt & Luke) point it out, “Thus fulfills the prophecy.” Thus…I began to wonder why!
Jesus differentiates His listeners as those being either ‘inside’ or ‘outside.’ To those in His inner circle, the ones who WANT to know, He grants them the honor of understanding. Those on the ‘outside’…nada! Which sounds to me to be just like a puzzle. The KEY to SOLVING it being, do I REALLY WANT to know and understand?
Years ago I learned that God is NEVER going to MAKE me LOVE HIM. I must either WANT TO…or nada! When I met my wife, I wanted to know EVERYTHING about her because I LOVED everything I knew thus far! Why WOULDN’T I want MORE? It is the same with God. Christmas Gives God the ABILITY to love us, and opens the door for us to pursue Him. That is… if we WANT TO!
Satan has a different scheme. He HATES God and is CONVINCED that He can actually DEFEAT Him and take over His Kingdom. Which is kind of funny. Because God actually takes satan’s evil desire as a kind of game! He does that with prophecy. He tells satan and the world, in His Word, WHAT He is going to do. And sometimes, even WHEN He is going to do it. Then He lets the enemy take a crack at solving the puzzle. So far, God is about 900 to nada!
There are over 300 prophecies predicting Christ’s Birth. There are over 600 prophecies concerning His imminent return as King. Is God thumbing His nose at satan saying, “Catch me if you can?” Or is He laying love messages down as hints to His heart, so that you and I might actually FIND Him…and love Him MORE. I vote the latter.
How do YOU see it?
