Woe To Unrepentant Hearts Essay, Research Paper
Matthew 11:20-30Key Verse 11:24 But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgementthan for you. The basic message in Matthew 11:20-30 is to repent and rest. In verses 20-24,Jesus criticized many cities where most of his miracles took occurred because they did notrepent their sins. He told them that because of their failure to resent, they would face acatastrophe much worse than what the city of Sodom experienced. Sodom was a city thatwas mentioned in the Old Testament as being an extremely sinful place. Unhappy withtheir disobedience to God, God showed his anger and wrath by destroying the city. Towarn that God would do something worse than this is bad. Real bad. Really, really bad. Why was Jesus angry with them? Jesus was angered because he felt that thecrowds who saw the miracles he performed saw him as a leader who did supernaturalthings. He did not want the ooooh s and aaaaaaah s of awe and amazement. All Jesuswanted was a commitment to follow God. That is a commitment that I am willing to make. Even though they may not beobvious, God still performs miracles today. These miracles may not be large out of theordinary occurrences. The mere fact that we are able to live and breathe shows me themiracle of life. I must realize to look less for the big miracle that only occurs once inawhile and pay more attention to the little things in life. I must show and reaffirm mycommitment to God by opening my eyes and my heart to see God s good works in theeveryday miracles that he performs. Most of all, I must realize that God is not a magicianwho seeks applause or a dog who performs tricks to seek the love of his master. In themost simplest sense, God is God. In a way, all God s actions are miracles because theyare good works that show how powerful God is, and how much he exists in each of ourlives. In addition to opening our eyes to see God s works, God also wants us to becomegood people. The first step to becoming good people is through repentance. For me,sometimes it is hard to repent. It is sometimes hard for me to admit my own faults. Sometimes when I do admit fault, I do not take full responsibility for my actions. Such isthe case whenever my sister and I do not get along . In the very few times that I haveadmitted fault, I will still claim that she started the fight first. If I h
admitting fault to a human, I think it shows all the more that I have trouble admitting myfaults to God. I feel so much lower than Him. I feel very shameful that I do not act in away that pleases him. The last thing I want to do is hurt the love he has for me. I do notwant to feel God s wrath or have God destroy the world because of a few wrong actionsthat I have committed. God understands that no human is perfect. What God expects,however, is for us is to admit our imperfections in order for us to be closer to his likeness. In keeping our commitment, it does not make us good people, but great people of God. Versus 25-20 is a personal message from Jesus to all of us. On our behalf, Jesusthanks God for showing us God s great works. Jesus tells us that He is God s son andthat all God s actions are revealed to us through Him. Perhaps the most personal thing hesaid is in the last three verses: Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble inheart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and myburden is light. It is ironic how everything just happens to fall into place just as things are falling apart. Reading these last few statements struck a chord within me. For the last few weeks, Ihave been weary in exhaustion and burdened with stress. I have been in physically notgood health. Mentally, my confidence in myself has been greatly lowered. Emotionally,my heart has been shattered. I find myself falling apart rapidly in this harsh, cruel world. Ifind it real hard to see the goods in life when all that I see coming out of bad situations ismore bad situations. The side that of me that has prevented me from self destruction hasbeen my spiritual side. Nowadays, I feel as though all I have left is God. The only thing Ifeel real confident of is that God is on my side and that he will always love me and be withme at all times. In Him, I find a sense of comfort that I do not think U have found withanyone else before. Because I know that he will always be there for me, I feel obliged tonot let Him down. I will try my best to not let Him down. I will not drop dead and die. Iwill not quit or succumb to my obstacles and hardships. It is because of my commitmentto God that I will survive. One word: Come to me, and I will give you rest