Don't stop believin'

Something I have learned as I grow older is that faith is not simply something you have. You don’t possess faith, you chase after it. And your following of Jesus is all about the journey, a journey that never ends until your earthly life does. I don’t know about anyone else, but I have never been happy to sit back on my laurels when it comes to things like spiritual growth. I want more. I am not satisfied with what I have so far in my faith, I want what’s next around the bend.

Mark 3:1-6
“Another time he went into the synagogue, and a man with a shriveled hand was there. 2 Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. 3 Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, "Stand up in front of everyone."  4 Then Jesus asked them, "Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. 5 He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. 6 Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” 

Most people don’t know that the Pharisees started out as a reform movement, a radical one in fact. When Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 333 BC, he got Israel in the bargain. He and those who came after him began to turn everything Greek. It would be similiar to the Americanization of the world today (there are 64 McDonald’s restaurants in Moscow, Russia!). The Jews responded in various ways to this mounting pressure to conform to the Greek way of life. Most sold out, and some even went so far as to reverse their circumcisions, so they wouldn’t be embarrassed in the gymnasiums! The Pharisees were radically opposed to this and implemented reforms to restore Jewish pride and passion for the Law. But by the time Jesus came around, the Pharisees, like all reform movements, had changed priorities from a radical devotion to the Word of God and the preservation of the Jewish faith to maintaining control and power over the people. They were so intent on staying in charge that they missed the very one they were supposed to be looking for. They were supposed to be the protectors and the proclaimers of God’s Word, instead they used it like a baseball bat.