Luke 11:27 – And it came to pass, as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice, and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou hast sucked.

Luke 11:28 – But he said, Yea rather, blessed are they that hear the word of God, and keep it.

Hello readers, start of a new week, and just something I’ve been thinking about recently from God’s word. We all often miss the point just like this “certain” woman in this story. It would be great to read Luke 11 for the context yourself, because in it, the Lord Jesus Christ preached quite a sermon.

But as he was speaking, he was interrupted by a woman who said something along the lines of “oh your mum is so lucky to have you, she must be so proud of you!” I’d often wondered why on earth this was even worth recording in the Bible, but it’s just so true. We can all be this woman and miss what Jesus Christ has preached to us, and never lay to heart what he actually said for our own life.

For all Jesus had preached, and what he preached commanded a response from the listeners, because that’s what preaching is, bringing the hearer under the authority of God’s word demanding a response… and that’s all she got out of it? All she got out of it was what a nice young man Jesus is! Man he speaks so well! His mother must be so proud of him! But how about… believe and obey what he’s actually saying?

See, this is what missing the point looks like. And it happens in churches all the time and across the world constantly. People hear, but few keep what they’ve heard. Many listen, but they’re not really listening. You listen to the comments people make after listening to a great sermon and you’re just like, man… is that all you got out of it?

For instance, they hear a sermon and all they can say is. Oh he yells a lot preaching! Oh I don’t like the way he said this and that. Oh is that how many they’ve got in their church. Oh, I really like their setup and how the pulpit looks. Is that pastor married? How many kids does he have? Or whatever… but hopefully you get the point. You had the ultimate preacher in Jesus Christ here, and all this woman got out of it was “mummy must be so proud of you”.

I can be this woman. And I have been this woman. I walk out sermon after sermon, I listen to preaching, I read the Bible, and I didn’t lay a thing to heart… and I missed what was actually being said to my life. Jesus was saying stuff absolutely vital to our salvation and walk with God, stuff that should’ve been ringing the bell of the listeners, but instead some were just looking at the crowd, admiring the way he spoke and held himself, looking at his disciples, blah, blah, blah, but not actually soaking in what Jesus was actually saying… much less putting it in practice in their lives.

We need to stop missing the point. Jesus said… “yea rather”. This is who is truly blessed. Yes his mum was blessed to have him, but he didn’t come to make Mary lucky to have him. He came to save all of us, including Mary, from our sins. He came to bear witness of the truth, to deliver the message of repentance and salvation. The true blessed ones are who hear and obey… as Jesus Christ said. Look, Mary herself could have been blessed to have him and died and gone to hell if she didn’t actually hear and keep what he said. Saying he’s a nice man and I love the way he preaches isn’t the same as hearing what he actually said and obeying it.

This woman had “lifted up her voice”, but how about just pipe down and listen? Stop trying to look good before others. She didn’t know what to say, because she hadn’t actually been listening to what he was saying. May we listen to what he’s saying with an bended knee and open ear, ready to hear, and ready to obey what he has told us. From now on, let’s stop missing the point, let’s stop being this woman and let’s start being who Jesus said was truly blessed, people who hear and keep the word of God.

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