SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO STIR UP THE WATER

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO STIR UP THE WATER

The religious leaders were conservative, highly trained experts who had memorized large swaths of the Old Testament. They got the PRINCIPLES and but missed the PERSON. Jesus said to them, “You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify of me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (John 5:39-41). Their Messiah was standing right smack in front of them, and yet they missed Him. They missed the PERSON. They got RELIGION but not the RELATIONSHIP.

Notice, all Scripture points to Jesus: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus… Psalms… all the way to Malachi. There are over three hundred specific PREDICTIONS about Jesus. There are all kinds of PICTURES of Jesus- people, objects or events that prefigure Him and His work. There is the very PRESENCE of Jesus in Old Testament appearances before His incarnation that many call Christophanies. Every page is alive with His PORTRAIT. When you get it, you become part of the FELLOWSHIP OF THE BURNING HEARTS like the two men on the road to Emmaus.

RULES. REGULATIONS. RELIGION. TRADITIONS. SYSTEMS. These are not life-giving in themselves. The same thing that happened to the Pharisees can happen today. We have our Christian concerts, cruises, music, schools, publishing houses, denominations, buildings, and love of religious life. Nothing is wrong with these things unless we miss the PERSON OF JESUS. May the wrecking ball come to anything that takes His place as we are ruined by Jesus and for Jesus. We cannot have the life of Christ without having the life of Christ. This is the Jesus-centered life.

As we study the Bible, we must make a “beeline” to Jesus. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon while teaching said he always made a “beeline” to Jesus and the cross.

In John 5, these leaders wanted to kill Jesus (18). Kill! His crime – He healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years on the Sabbath. The man picked up his mat and walked. As the man was skipping and shouting Hallelujah, the Temple Patrol Posse said, “Cut it out!” The Pharisees wanted to make a citizen’s arrest for an unauthorized movement of a bedroll! Are you kidding me? What religious losers. They were indoctrinated but not illuminated. They used the Bible as a weapon. They wounded but did not heal. They wanted control not transformation.

I will never forget when Bruce Wilkinson talked about a deep learning. As a young leader he asked, Dr. Mitchell to teach him the Bible. “Will you,” he asked. “No, I won’t,” was the reply. “I’ll tell you what I will do. I’ll meet with you week after week, and I’ll help you fall more in love with Jesus, because if you’ll fall more in love with Jesus, everything else will take care of itself.”

Fabricated religion kills. Do not learn the SCRIPTURES and miss the PERSON OF JESUS. The answer to our paralysis is Jesus. May we get up. Stand up. Rise up and walk. “Sometimes you have to stir up the water.”

Dr. Michael Sprague is the Louisiana State Chaplain with the Capitol Commission and President of Grace Adventures. Michael lives with his wonderful wife Donna and resides in Mandeville, LA. His motto is “Bet the Farm on God.” You can find more information about Michael here.