Keep it Pushin

"Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's this wisdom that has been given him, that he even does miracles! Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and the brother of James, Joseph,^a]"> Judas and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him.

Jesus said to them, "Only in his hometown, among his relatives and in his own house is a prophet without honor." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. And he was amazed at their lack of faith.” – Mark 6: 2-6

Have you ever worked hard at making a positive change in our life only to find that those closest to you are your harshest critics?

Well you’re not alone.

Jesus went home, brought his message, and folks weren’t feeling it. The response to him was pretty interesting. They were like… “man we know Lil Jesus from round the way. Now he wants to talk like he’s God? Who does he think he is?”

Given the historical and spiritual context it may be easy to come down hard on these folk. But here’s another way to look at it.

It is hard for people to change the way they think.

This manifests itself in many ways. It is hard for many of us to break habits or take risks. But it is also hard for us to change our perspective about ourselves and those around us.

So, say you used to go out and drink and party every night of the week with your old buddies. Then for some reason you decided that this wasn’t for you. You decided to focus that time on building a business, writing a book, pursuing a dream…

This new “you” that you are becoming may be hard for those old friends to accept.

But when it comes down to it… sadly, it doesn’t really matter. You still have to do what you have to do to become the best you can be. Hopefully those that we have grown up with and love will be proud of who we become. But for the ones who aren’t… that’s their problem.

Jesus was amazed at their lack of faith in him too. But what did he do?

He kept it pushin’.

There was more work to be done elsewhere.

Of course loving relationships are extremely important, but it is also important to recognize which ones truly support your continued growth and which ones do not.

Very tricky… but hey, not everything in life is easy right?

Today’s Reading: Numbers 15-16; Mark 6: 1-29