SPIRITUAL VERSUS PHYSICAL

They answered him, “Abraham is our father.”  Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God.  This is not what Abraham did.”  John 8:39-40

Jesus’ words were often misunderstood because the person who heard them thought He was speaking about the physical world, not the spiritual one.  The woman at the well thought the water Jesus referred to was the water at the bottom of the well.  Nicodemus thought that the new birth Jesus spoke of was about a physical re-birth through a woman’s womb.  Now, the Pharisees are suffering from lack of insight because they make the same mistake.  They refer to themselves as physical descendants of Abraham when Jesus is talking about spiritual relations.  Are they Abraham’s spiritual children, children of belief, faith, and obedience.

Salvation and faith are spiritual experiences.  No royal bloodline assures a place in heaven.  I may enjoy an earthly inheritance because of who I am related to, but my father’s faith does not guarantee my own.  Jesus accentuates this by reminding them that they, Abraham’s physical children, are trying to kill the very One Abraham worshipped.

The Holy Spirit tutors each of us.  He reveals the Word to us and brings us personal insight.  I can often be tripped up by a “word from God’ because I believe God said one thing when He actually meant something entirely different.  I apply it to the physical world when He speaks of a spiritual condition.  When Jesus encountered the paralytic by the pool of Bethesda, he asked him if he wanted to be well.  Certainly, his presence at the pool day after day showed his desire for physical healing.  But Jesus’ question was not about physical healing.  It was deeper than that.

Perhaps you feel God has given you a word, a promise.  You assumed you knew what it meant and you’ve been waiting for fulfillment.  Perhaps though, that Word was addressing something spiritual, not physical.  Metaphorical, not literal.  If I do but one thing during prayer time, it is this.  “I bind my mind to yours, Lord.  Loose my thoughts from deception and preconceived ideas.  Show me exactly what you are saying.” Many a good Word from the Lord has been squandered in the valley of confusion.  There was a false expectation, then came disillusionment, then came fractured trust.

May God clarify His Word today and repair the breech.

Every Word You speak, You fulfill.  Conform my mind to Your wavelength.  Amen