"And they took offense at Him."

Mark 6:3(b), NASB

This passage struck me as odd for quite some time. The setting finds Jesus in His hometown, trying to help the people. He has been able to teach a little and perform a few miracles, but He was really limited in what He did because the people were familiar with Him, They knew His family, they knew what His occupation had been, and many had likely seen Him grow up. And while there was never anything in Jesus' life that would have caused offense, the people were offended all the same. Why was that?

Do you remember when you became a Christian, or at least began to actually live like a follower of Christ should live? Maybe you had people who were quite familiar with your past. Maybe, unlike Jesus, you had things in that past that you were not very proud of... and your friends and family knew it! So, when you started to actually live in the way that a Christian is supposed to live, people saw it, remembered what you were like, and were offended.

One of the hardest things for a Christian to do is to live down his past while living like he should in the present. While Jesus has certainly never done anything to disgrace Himself, His Father in heaven, or His family on earth, people still took offense at Him. So do not be surprised when the people who are most familiar with your past take offense at you. It is human nature! The only question is, how will we deal with it, for deal with it we must.

Today's reading is from the 6th chapter of Mark. I pray that God will richly bless your efforts to find out more about His will so that you can live the life He has called you to live.