As Jesus walked the earth, He amazed His listeners, over and over again.
And all who heard him were amazed at his understanding and his answers. Luke 2:47
And he was teaching them on the Sabbath, and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word possessed authority… And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out!” And reports about him went out into every place in the surrounding region. Luke 31-32, 36-37
And amazement seized them all, and they glorified God and were filled with awe, saying, “We have seen extraordinary things today.” Luke 5: 26
And he said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” And the dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother. Fear seized them all, and they glorified God, saying, “A great prophet has arisen among us!” and “God has visited his people!” And this report about him spread through the whole of Judea and all the surrounding country. Luke 7:14-17
Crowds were amazed and astonished and glorified God. Crowds grew and Jesus’ reputation spread. What we don’t see is crowds believing. We don’t see crowds repenting and coming to faith during Christ’s earthly ministry. They may have been amazed by His message yet many remained unchanged.
As followers of Jesus Christ, God is in the process of conforming us into the image of His Son: “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son…” Romans 8:29
He uses many different means to accomplish that. One way is through the preaching/teaching of His Word.
How often do we sit through a message on Sunday morning amazed, blessed, encouraged, and challenged, thank the pastor for his wonderful message, chat amongst ourselves then get in our car and go home…. unchanged?
Being astonished, amazed, blessed and challenged are all good feelings, but do not result in change unless we take the truths of that message and actually apply those truths.
How often does a message we have heard lead us to action? Not just once but actual change in our lives? Isn’t that the purpose of sitting under the teaching of the Word?
Let’s be astonished, amazed, blessed and challenged. Let’s thank pastor for his message. Let’s chat among ourselves about what we heard. Then let us ask God how he wants us to apply that
Written by Diane Hunt: Diane Hunt serves on the board of America’s Keswick and is the Executive Director & CEO of Changed Choices, a Christian non-profit in North Carolina. She is also a biblical counselor and women’s event speaker. For more information about having Diane speak at your next event please contact her at dhunt@americaskeswick.org.