From the desk of Pastor Ben

Cursing The Light – Part 2

“Do you know how to discern the appearance of the sky, but cannot discern the signs of the times?”                 (Matthew 16:3b)

People today curse the light just as the Jewish leaders did. Unbelieving scholars prefer the speculations of human learning to the wise truths of Scripture. Agnostics and atheists don’t refuse to believe because it is impossible to know God but because they will not know Him. They embrace the “evidence” from rationalism, evolution, and skepticism to explain life — not because there is no evidence for the truth of Christ, but because they despise that truth.

For atonement of sin and guilt, such people often turn to man-made religion with its acts of penance, self-affliction, confessionals, and other resources. But they fail to deal with the root of their problem — their sinful hearts — because they don’t want to change.

Knowing the the Jewish leaders’ true intent was to discredit Him, Jesus pointed to the inconsistency of their trust in meteorology while completely distrusting Him. In spite of their religious heritage and training, their primitive insights on the weather superseded their knowledge of the Messiah. Many people today also have great insight into worldly matters but no comprehension of the things of God. They predict all sorts of earthly trends, but they know nothing of God’s plan for this world and that it’s still the “last time,” a time calling for  repentance and faith.

All the signs that mark the end times (see Matthew 24:3, 6-7, 11-12) are indicative of contemporary society. Believers’ concern should therefore be for what Scripture says and what God is doing, not for what human experts are saying and what they’re doing to disprove God.

Ask Yourself:
How do you square the simplicity of faith with the pursuit of knowledge? Should Christians be viewed as downplaying the importance of staying current and valuing complex thought? Where do you strike the balance between heart and mind?