May 25th Column

PASTOR’S COLUMN

45 “ Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures… 50 Then Jesus led them to Bethany, and lifting His hands to heaven, He blessed them. 51  While he was blessing them, He left them and was taken up to heaven. 52  So they worshiped Him and then returned to Jerusalem filled with great joy. 53 And they spent all of their time in the Temple, praising God.” Luke 24: 45; 50-53, NLT                                                                                                                                   

 “Don’t Miss What Can Be Found!”

Understanding today has been greatly compromised by a plethora of distractions. According to studies, a person once retained the specific details of information given, for up to two and a half minutes. In recent years, retention of explicit facts or details has diminished to 47 seconds. This is not surprising in our rapid paced, shifting culture.  There is no shortage of platforms to contact people; but substantive communication is eclipsed by memes and messaging. Our lack of effective listening, thinking, discerning, and reasoning, has resulted in an “understanding deficit.” We fail to understand the most basic knowledge. In the 8th century B. C., the prophecy of Hosea described the people’s dearth of knowledge in understanding God’s plan for their lives. The Scripture reads: “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”  (Hosea 4:6, KJV). In every generation there is a need to reclaim the truth given to us in the Scriptures, which will heal, restore, reconcile, and save us. Otherwise, a culture is doomed to lose its identity. Today 24%, or 100, of the world’s languages have become extinct, and a cultural heritage has been lost forever. The disciples did not come to “fully understand” the mission of Jesus – the definite importance of His atoning death, burial and Resurrection – until some 40 days after He walked the earth beginning Resurrection morning. When Jesus met with the disciples the final time, their minds were opened. True understanding reached each of them. This newfound understanding they had missed during their journey now became their joy.  With anxious glee in their eyes, Jesus did not leave them cold and empty. He also blessed them!