Adjust or Die

04.26.12

Matthew 13.14-15 14 In their case the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says, ‘You will keep on hearing, but will not understand; you will keep on seeing, but will not perceive; 15 for the heart of this people has become dull, with their ears they scarcely hear, and they have closed their eyes, otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’

I have always wondered about this prophecy and what it really means. Is it saying that the Lord will be vindictive and not allow them to hear and know – or is it saying there is a means whereby they can hear and know but they have to look and listen in a particular way in order to hear and see properly? I tend to leave out vindictiveness because of the Lord’s nature as I understand it and so I am left with the alternative that says there is another way which is proper and profitable.

Last night I had an epiphany: I realized there was another way for me to live. I have lived for so long in one manner of experience and it seems now that I am being called to another plane of living I have only dreamed about in not always so pleasant dreams. I looked at my present circumstances and realized I have been living largely the wrong way and I need to make adjustments accordingly if I am to continue (which I intend to do: change and continue).

The Lord put David in a place where he had to adjust or die. The Lord spoke to the people in parables so that they had to adjust their thinking and turn to Him and humbly ask: what do You mean? God is not cruel to us, but He also doesn’t make excuses for us either. Just because we don’t initially understand doesn’t mean that there is no understanding – it simple means that there is another way to live life in order to understand. Parables are simply illustrations and examples out of everyday life that help us see how life really works. And if we don’t understand them we need to humble ourselves and ask: what does this mean to me and how am I to live?

I’m to live everyday partially with the expectancy of finding God somewhere in my day. That is the thought that occurred to me. I’ve always thought it was about the American Dream and a paycheck and success and all that – it occurred to me that there is something more important than that, and I have up to this day in my life, lived that way – now I’m to live this way: looking for God in my day.

That means I’m going to have to live differently: adjust or die. And the difference is not looking at God as if He’s vindictive but that He is divinely able to get my attention and help me to live differently than I ever dreamed I could. The people hearing Jesus’ parables were clueless because they couldn’t see the simplicity of: adjust or die. And death is always nothing more than living out our days ignoring God; slugging it out on our own. That’s no way to live.

Today, I am at the beginnings of looking at things differently because of the One who said, ‘…otherwise they would see with their eyes, hear with their ears, and understand with their heart and return, and I would heal them.’ I need healed and there is a way to live to get what I need; and all that comes along with it.