“Has any of the rulers or of the Pharisees believed in him? No! But this mob that knows nothing of the law–there is a curse on them.” John 7:48-49 (NIV)
They wanted to apprehend Jesus but the guards come back empty handed. On being interrogated they point out that nobody has ever spoken like Jesus does. Unable to see or manipulate the workings of God, they attack the people involved. Instead of looking up above our world to the Heavenly Being that creates and sustains, they look to each other. They look to the familiar world around them. Instead of bowing to God in humble submission, they bolster themselves by directing attention to the weaker or less prominent. It is far easier to deal with matters if we can maintain them at our own level. It is far easier to fight a battle if it is done on our home field. It is far easier to speak of spiritual things if we limit them to worldly limits. But can we do this with God? Should we ever even try?
When confronted with the possibility that God was moving amongst them, people got scared. The leaders of the people lost control. Rather than bow to God or seeking His approval, they reverted as we all normally do, to relating everything to us. They use their laws. They use their customs. They use the highest standards which they have at their disposal. But they are still human. They may pay a word of tribute to God, but they are far from seeking His intentions. We humans have this tendency. We read the Bible. It tells us of God far above our world. But we try to package Him up in systems of worship. We try to hand Him to others in a set of fine doctrines. We establish a good way of living. We promote righteous conduct. But are we still looking at our world? Are we still looking at ourselves? We still look at our things. We still look at each other. This is the human way. We have done it throughout our entire history. All it takes is a quick look into the Bible to see proof of our forefather´s shortcomings. All it takes is a minute on our knees before the Lord to see that our heart looks to what is around us. We tend to look here before we look up there.
Could the time have arrived for us to step out of our earthly habit? May the Lord be asking us again to look above all our own causes? Could He be asking us to step past the squabbling? Could He be directing our gaze once again to Him? God sent His Son. He asked us to look to Him. Jesus came not to gain something personal for Himself. He came to give. He sacrificed His life. He did it to please the Father. He did it to restore God´s children unto Him. If His offering is to achieve its intended work within our hearts, should we let it put us before God? Could we lay down our worldly issues? Could we lift our gaze? Could we get God back into the focus? Instead of looking to all our common earthly ways, could we genuinely kneel in the Presence of the Lord? Could we break this habit of following the human way? Could we look to a new Way today? Could we offer our hearts now to the One Who will show us God the Father?
Dear Jesus, we repent. We know that our earthly ways fall way too short. We look at each other. We look at all that we have around us. We look at traditions, systems and ideals. But we hear Your voice calling us to look beyond. We hear You calling us to drop all this and look upwards. Please enable our earthly hearts. Help us break the common habit. Help us to look for God´s workings and God´s will. Help us to look to God´s Son! By keeping our eyes on You and our Heavenly goal, may we leave behind our unworthy human way!
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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