Look For The Good

Matthew 13:56-58---And his sisters, are they not all with us? Whence then hath this man all these things? And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honor, save in his own country, and in his own house. And he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief.
At first, Jesus' hometown folk were impressed with Him. When they figured out what He was saying, they looked for reasons to be upset with Him. A person that does not like the message will soon accept a critical spirit and begin to find fault in the messenger. The Greek word for 'offense' is skandalizo which comes from the noun skandalon. Skandalon is the word used for the trigger of a trap. It is the lever that causes the trap to spring shut. When we look for faults in others, we are searching for something to grab hold of for accusation. The accuser of the brethren is Satan. We don't realize that when we seize that trigger, the trap closes in on our mind. From that time forward all that person's perfections appear in our mind as flawed. We assign motives that were never in that person's mind, thinking we are more spiritual. Remember, the unredeemed find fault in the church every day. It is not a sign of spirituality, but of immaturity. Those hometown folk that was with Jesus did not accept the call on His life, even as He read it from the Word of God. "How could this man be the one Isaiah wrote of? We know His sisters! He didn't study under a great rabbi! How dare He claim a relationship with God that is greater than ours and instruct us!" When Jesus shared that His message would go to the Gentiles and reminded them of examples of the same in their own Bible, they tried to kill Him. It is sad that He could not do miracles there because of their refusal to believe and have faith. The trap they had sprung on themselves not only kept the miraculous from blessing the city, but it prevented them and those they influenced from entering the kingdom of heaven. The very people Jesus had grown up among, as a living example of a holy child, teen and young adult, refused the salvation they had been waiting for. Don't reach for that trigger! If you already have, repent! God can free you from the trap if you will confess your sin. The revelation of an error in another is the call to intercede, not condemn. Isn't that how you would like Jesus to treat you? (Ephesians 4:32; Matthew 6:14,15)