Just don’t do it, the don’t here would be sin. There are some things that aren’t immediately recognized in these verses. At the beginning of these verses a crowd has has gathered to hear Jesus speak. There is a woman in the crowd that exclaims “blessed is the womb that bore you and the breast that nursed you.” The blessing, of course, was directed towards mother of Jesus, Mary. Jesus responds by simply saying that true blessings come to those who hear and keep God’s word. The true blessings of God are not received through a biological connection. It is much more than that, and Jesus emphasizes here that the true blessings come from following God’s teachings. This one verse alone emphasizes one or as many as five key elements that we need to retain. The verses contain recognition of Mary’s role. It is also a recognition of Jesus’s teaching on true blessings, and obedience and faith are considered a path to blessings in this life. The first two verses of this series refers to the above when we get to versus 29–32. We find the Jesus is dealing with a generation that’s seeking a sign of some kind. I think we find here also that Jesus is facing a generation unwilling to repent and listen to his message. Just as Jonah was a sign to the people of Nineveh, Jesus, the son of God shall be a sign to the people of this generation and as we know in further study, the people would reject Jesus. The Jews were God’s chosen people, and with that designation also came great privileges. Two things here that we might recognize right off is that being the chosen people and having these special privileges, they still turned away from Jesus rejecting him, and their  condemnation was even worse. We today find ourselves in a situation where many of us reject Jesus Christ as a savior our God and fail to repent and accept salvation, forgetting that privilege and responsibility, always go hand-in-hand. There are two privileges that we have as people of the faith and one of those, of course is the Bible. That privilege did not come without cost. There was a time when it was death to teach the  Bible. There were many people that were put to death simply because they possessed it and read God’s word. There is no book which cost so much as the Bible and we find ourselves today allowing it to be placed in a category of simply a classic, a book of which everyone has heard but no one reads it. Possessing a Bible even in our world today in some places is an absolute privilege. We also have the privilege of worshiping as we see fit, and that two is a very meaningful privilege. We can say of that privilege that it like the Bible in some places  it has caused many people to be put to death. The privilege of  having both the Bible and freedom to worship what we believe to be true carries with it a great deal of responsibility. Today right now, if we neglect those blessings which we we have, we too, will be under condemnation just as the Jews were.

So as we close today, please consider this. Though this may be confusing or hard to understand the truth is religion, faith and walking in a Godly manner is not about what you don’t do, it is more about what you do do. Are we doing the things that our God expects from us? About that title… Just Don’t Do It. The don’t of course being sin. We will all fail because no one is without sin, but God has provided us with a mediator Jesus Christ. Through the blood of Christ on the cross, we will receive salvation by accepting him and living as he would have us live. Life itself is a message to those that follow.

Life is Good

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