God is NOT a Jack-in-the-Box

A while back, in one of his sermons, Pastor had us all laughing when he described the healing of the blind men in the bible. Jesus healed one man by putting mud in his eyes and the other by spitting in the blind man’s eye. He said the “Mudites” quarreled with the “Spitites” over how Jesus healed them and who received the right, or proper, healing. He called it the first division of the church. Now of course that was his comical way of leading us to his message, but it sure made me think about how true that is.  

In your mind, follow the story…the Mudites began a church and taught that the only way to be healed is with mud, while across the street the Spitites were boasting the true stairway to heaven is through spit-healing. It explains why there are so many denominations of churches. We’ve allowed man-made rules to divide us from our common goal…to be like Christ. We will never know this side of heaven why God heals one and not another or spares your house, while your neighbor floods. We can’t start preaching that our faith must be stronger than your faith or we pray harder than you pray. If we trust God and believe His Word, then we have to believe that God has a plan and He’s working everything out in His way and His time. 

I wonder what kind of blessings we’re missing out on when we get entangled in our made-up rules and unbiblical rituals; when we’ve pre-made up our minds how things should be, instead of following God’s direct instruction. If we continue to put God in a spit-only box, then we will significantly lower our opportunity to witness a miracle in our own lives.