Home on the Mountain

Beloved People of God,

You ever find yourself asking, “now what?”

I was recently at a conference, and during a follow up session, with the main speaker alongside two respondents, the moderator of the discussion voiced those words. Repeatedly as he was walking with people he was counseling, he would find himself thinking, “But now what?” He’d given them all he had to give, all the best listening he could render, all the best empathy he could muster, all the counsel he could offer, but time and time again he found himself with them at a moment of decision that asked, “now what?”

I’m sure we’ve all been there; a tire blew up on a dark and lonely road; an unexpected change caught us unprepared; a breakdown we don’t know how to get past. We’ve all asked, “now what?” It isn’t the first time, and it won’t be the last.

Here at the close of Jesus’ sermon on the mount we might be asking “but now what?” Jesus has fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in ways we didn’t see coming. We look at the upside-down world around us, and as Jesus has been setting it aright in His Words, we find ourselves discombobulated. We want security. Jesus calls us to trust. We want peace from our enemies. Jesus calls us to pray for them. We want moral philosophy to sit quietly in the back pew of our minds. Jesus calls us to actively live His word (Matthew 7.24-29). 

Friends, if we will be still before the Lord, we will realize our “now what?” is an echo of His question to us! What will we do now with what He has given us? He’s told us the way of wisdom. Now that we know it, we have a responsibility to live it. Now that we’re on the solid rock, it’s time to start building.

For His Name’s Sake,

Brett