Matthew 13:51-58

Matthew 13:51-58 
English Standard Version (ESV)

  My consistency has been slipping lately -- it's so easy to get caught up in everything else.  So many other things seem urgent or pressing, and one thing leads to the next... We've all been there.  Maybe a workout routine gets derailed, or a diet slips due to the lack of time needed for grocery shopping.  You'll get back in the habit tomorrow, right? 
  It's easy to fall away, and the farther we slip, the easier it is to doubt, because we begin to get by.  We make it through one day, and then a week, and then a month, and we think we're making it on our own, until we hit some life event that reminds us that we cannot make it on our own -- we cannot cope, and it's bigger than we are.  At these moments, we so often revert to the childlike faith, where we simply need to be reminded that God loves us, that God is with us, and that all will be well, because we are safe in God's hands.
  There was plenty of frustration in Jesus' ministry.  The religious leaders of the day had slipped far from being dependent on a daily relationship with God.  They had formed a religion that fit their lives, but they hadn't left room for the Holy Spirit.  They were good at their religion, but when Christ came and spoke to their hearts, they resisted him, rejected him.  They couldn't see their own need because they had crafted an environment that helped them cope.
  So here we are today -- what's your life going to be like?  Will you continue to find ways to cope and fool yourself into thinking you can be completely independent?  Or will you acknowledge that only God can save you from death and the biggest questions we face in life, and will you craft a life that depends on him?