Are you amazed? Not at people or things or talent or money… Are you amazed at the teaching and words of Jesus? Would you pay to go listen to Him speak for 5 hours at an arena or stadium? That was what my pastor asked… and honestly, I wasn’t sure. Ouch! I take Jesus’ words for granted, not really thinking about them that much. But, as my pastor pointed out, people traveled a long way to see and hear Jesus speak – he couldn’t have been a boring speaker (they were amazed by Him, remember). So, here are a couple of interesting points: Jesus never had to go to rabbi school to learn the scriptures… He wrote them. They were His words. I had never thought of that. No wonder He knew them so well (of course, he may have also gone to rabbi school, I don’t know)! Jesus was a master storyteller – when he spoke it was interesting. He used stories that his listeners could relate to. It would be like using illustrations with sports or iPhones or High School Musical (still haven’t seen that movie). Or talking about current issues like our storms (maybe the economy?) or marriage (gay or straight marriage?) or searching for a lost cell phone (yeah, you know you’d search for that pretty desperately… maybe even more than your wallet). He was an entertainer. His points amazed people – not because they were new, but because people hadn’t heard them before. They were old points, but the leaders of the day had gotten so caught up in the small stuff (like how far should you walk on the Sabbath, etc.) that they missed the important stuff (like loving other people). Jesus knew that Peter would betray Him. He knew before He chose him. He knew every day that Peter walked beside him. And did He treat Peter differently or poorly? No! He encouraged him and gave him amazing promises for his life (like Peter would be the rock the church would be built on). We forget (or at least I do) that God forgets. Not important stuff – He forgets our SIN. The Psalms say that they’re as far as “east is from the west” which is pretty darn far since those two points never touch. God forgives (that we remember), but He also FORGETS. It’s like a giant white board. When we are forgiven, He erases every trace of what we did and it can’t be seen at all. He doesn’t keep a list (yup, I remember when she did that… oh, and that was a big mistake, too. Man! I remember that and that, and yup, that one, too.). He erases it all. YEAH!!!! I forget this a lot, so it’s a nice reminder. So, that’s about all I can remember right now. Am I amazed? I want to be. So, I think that my next reading in my Quiet Time will have to be the red letters of Christ. I hope to be amazed once again.

Read more