“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” John 11:48 (NIV)
Jesus saves a person from the grave. He brings him back from the dead. Word of it gets to the leaders of the people and the church. They call a meeting. They need to assess the situation. They need to know where they are getting to with all this. So they gather all the finest minds together. They get the highest authorities in the organization all together. They meet to discuss. They sit down to evaluate and to look for a direction.
Does it seem strange to us? Does it seem completely out of place? Should they have gathered together instead to praise the Lord? Could they have held their meeting for a thousand reasons more important than to discuss where they are and what they are going to do? Does it just seem ridiculous to us now? Look at their words! “What are WE accomplishing”? “If WE let Him go on….. then they will take OUR place and OUR nation.” Does this sound like it should come from someone who is responsible for leading people in their approach to God? What are they concerned about? Are they really bent on lifting up God? Or have their sights lowered considerably? Have they lowered their eyes so low that they only see themselves? Can they not see the greater vision of God because they are looking in completely the wrong direction? Have they got their home, their sanctuary, their lives and their dreams into focus? Has God been clouded out entirely due to the human tendency to look to himself?
We can do as we did way back when we were on the playground as children. “You did this”! Or “You said that”! We could hurl insults and judgmental sarcasm at those leaders of Jesus´ day. But to take that road would we merely be following in their footsteps. Would we be lowering our sights too? Should we make an effort to look to see what God is working on right now? Could we gather for more uplifting reasons? Could we bring all our people and all our leaders together to praise the Lord for where He is moving now? Could we get our own homes, our organizations, and our issues out of the priority seat and set our gaze again on the Son of God? Could we look to see what He is accomplishing in our times and in our lives? Could we sing, pray and praise the Lord to see the Him at work now? Are we assessing our own situation? What are we accomplishing today?
Dear Jesus, we admit that others have failed to see when You were moving in their times. Please let us use that realization to bring us closer to You! We don´t want to miss any wonder of God because we were looking in the wrong direction! Set our eyes on You! Let us see the power, the wonder, and the love of God that is moving strong today! Let us see that we have good cause to gather together to praise the Lord! Thrill us with the miracle of Your Presence! Let us focus on what we are accomplishing in finding You here with us now!
Amen
Searching For Christ 
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