Amazement

Find a copy of the Book of God. Open it to the good news according to Mark. Read through the entire story quickly. If you don’t have time, look specifically at these passages: 1:22; 1:27; 2:12; 5:20; 5:42; 6:2; 6:51; 7:37; 9:15; 10:24; 10:26; 10:32; 11:18; 12:17; 15:5. There is a pattern.

I discovered that when people encountered Jesus Christ, they were amazed!

Six different Greek words are translated as amazed or astonished in Mark’s story. Some are verbs, as in being amazed. Some are nouns, as in the state or condition of having been amazed.

All six are different words, yet, they are very similar in meaning. People observed what Jesus did. What he said. What he didn’t say. They heard what others said about Him. And when they did, it was not business as usual.

People were filled with great surprise and sudden wonder. They were spellbound. They were fascinated. They were enchanted. They were surprised. They were unexpectedly fascinated. They were stupefied. They were stunned. They were utterly bewildered. They reflected and they pondered upon what they observed. They were entranced. They were rendered immovable. They observed with great intent. In short, they were AMAZED!

So I asked myself, “what kind of things amaze me?”

Me, I am amazed by how ants work to accomplish a purpose. By how the internal combustion engine produces power. By how people's brains work. By how weeds can grow anywhere. By the healing powers of sunshine. By how people make decisions. By sin in my life.

What kind of things amaze you?

If the people in Mark where amazed by Jesus Christ. Then they were not doing other things.

They were not in a hurry. They were not thinking about their date for that night. They were not focusing on dinner. They were not bored. They did not day dream. They were not thinking about what was happening when Jesus left. They were not looking around. They were not doodling. They were not thinking about the field that needed to be plowed. They ignored their physical pains. They did not think the sun was too hot or the wind too strong. They did not have time to dwell on any of these things. They were too busy being amazed.

Their focus was on Jesus. Not on anything else that might distract them from Jesus.

How about me?

Can I focus on Jesus Christ long enough to be amazed?

Do I think about what He has done for me enough that I am fascinated?

When I read about the things He did, am I entranced?

Am I amazed when I read the teachings of God?

Am I amazed when I hear the teachings of God explained?

Am I amazed when God causes something to happen on my behalf?

Am I amazed when God answers my prayers?

1. I try to reflect on God's work in my life as often as I can.

One day, I was walking through my neighborhood and praying. God brought to mind a particularly unpleasant parting of ways I experienced with a former employer.

O.K., I got fired. I asked God why that happened to me. Now, I settled in my heart a long time ago that God was not obligated to explain anything to me. I didn't need my own Job experience. I am willing to learn from his.

But this time God decided to tell me. He said I got fired from that job to bring me to where I am now. As I reflected on all that God did to get me to where I am today. I was amazed! I am amazed still! And I was thankful.

2. I ask God to reveal amazing things about Himself to me in the ordinary Bible stories I read. Especially, the ones I think I know well.

When I think of the story of Gideon. I think of the fleece and the dew. But when I read the story recently I saw that God used 300 men to destroy an army of 135,000! That is 1 to 450 odds! That is as close to “nothing is impossible for God” as I have seen. And I was amazed! I still am!

3. I ask God to reveal to me how He is working on other people's lives.

When people tell me about the difficulties in their lives, I listen to hear what God might be doing. Some time we are too close to our own situation to see God at work.

Is there anything about Jesus that amazes you? If not, who’s fault would that be? ;-)

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