TODAY IS…

a perfect day to be led astray.

“The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, and they said to them, ‘Why did you not bring Him?’”  John 7:45 NASB

When the religious leaders and Pharisees sent the temple guards to arrest Jesus, they returned empty handed. When they were asked why they had not done what they were instructed, “The officers answered, ‘Never has a man spoken the way this man speaks.’” (John 7:46 NASB).

Of course, the religious leaders were incredulous. Not fully believing the response, “The Pharisees then answered them, ‘You have not also been led astray, have you?’” (John 7:47 NASB).

If we, like the soldiers, have been led astray by the words that Jesus spoke, then the only thing we can do is – Praise God!

It is unusual, perhaps, to “Praise God” for being led astray, but if this is what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day consider being led astray, then there is not much else that we can do.

The truth of the matter is that the soldiers were not really led astray, they were led to the truth.

The religious leaders and the Pharisees could not see the truth because it did not meet their expectations of what the truth should have been. When God selected Mary to give birth to Christ – a birth which we are preparing to celebrate in just a few days – He did not find it necessary to consult with anyone else before He made that selection. He saw in Mary’s heart what He needed to see to make His choice. The fact that the One He sent to save the world did not meet the expectations of the most learned religious leaders of the day has caused many people through history to believe that those who recognized Christ as the One sent by God to offer salvation to the world and to die for the sins of all mankind, were all led astray.

In actuality, those who really are being led astray are those who fail to accept the gift that Christ was sent to offer with His ultimate death on the Cross.

If being led astray means that we are lining up behind Jesus Christ to follow Him into the Kingdom of God, then let us pray that we are all led astray.

If being led astray means that we are being led to an everlasting life full of peace, joy, happiness, and love, then the choice is clear.

God sent His Son to us in exactly the way that He chose to, and if we choose to follow Him and be “led astray” then we have made the right choice.

*******

Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson