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‘Think Different’
Day 2 Reading: Matthews 4:12-22
In verse 17 of our reading, Jesus began
to preach, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near’
(NIV). Jesus
Himself is the main manifestation of the kingdom of heaven.
And He is near.
The appropriate response from everyone in the vicinity
is to repent.
Repent comes from a Greek word –
metanoeo – which means, "think differently after," "after a
change of mind"; to repent (literally, "think differently
afterwards") [HELPS Word-studies at BibleHub.com] {Wikipedia
includes this definition of the noun form: ‘a transformative
change of heart; especially: a spiritual conversion’}.
Older readers might remember one of the iconic
advertising campaigns of our era, produced by Apple – ‘think
different’. Apple
was calling on everyone to repent – to think differently about
how their habits and routines were suboptimal, how the status
quo could be disrupted, and how their personal lives could be
better.
In a similar way, Jesus, arriving on
the scene, is calling everyone within earshot to think
differently.
Think differently after encountering Jesus.
There are a few ways that most people can immediately
think differently after encountering Jesus.
We can think differently about
ourselves. On one
end of the spectrum, we’re not the center of the universe.
Our selfish egos look pretty silly beside the grandeur
of God in the Flesh.
At the other extreme, neither are we worthless,
shameful, disgraceful creatures – after all, God created us
and Jesus is pursuing us, right now!
We can think
differently about our sin.
Sins manifest in all shapes and sizes.
For those who have domesticated their conduct, they
might be difficult for observers to notice in that they are
hidden in the thoughts, concealed in the attitude, and blocked
by behavioural compliance; think of such things are pride and
selfishness and greed and bitterness and lust.
For others, some of their sins are exposed to plain
sight in the form of such things as cruelty, abuse, fraud, and
filthiness (not physical but verbal and behavioural).
The temptation and tendency for most people is to
downsize their sins – to underplay them.
We discount the negative influences and consequences of
our evil attitudes and iniquitous intentions.
We downplay the significance of our own misconduct
(often by contrasting it to gross wickedness by infamous
ne’er-do-wells).
But sin is significant.
Among other things, it jeopardizes fellowship with God,
it disqualifies us from heaven.
And we can think differently about God.
God isn’t even on the radar for some people.
God is but a caricature for others, from the
disinterested clock-maker (who winds up time and then lets it
unwind without any observation or intervention) to the
finger-wagging, demanding, dissatisfied father.
In reality, He is a loving, caring Creator who has
dreamed up amazing eternity for each of us.
We repent.
And in our repentance we see that we are precious,
loved creations of God, that our sins have calamitous
consequences in terms of divine relationship and residency,
and that God is love.
That amazing eternity God has dreamed
up for us? For
Peter and Andrew, and James and John, in our reading today, it
included refining and redirecting their vocational pursuits
for Kingdom purposes.
They’d be fishing people.
For us, today, it will likely include the same thing:
those passions and skills we’ve deployed in employment (or for
those of us still in school, in education) can be refined and
redirected to Kingdom purposes.
How?
Verse 19.
Jesus said, “Come follow Me.”
That is both the most astounding
invitation we could ever imagine receiving, coming as it does
from the only perfect Person who ever lived, and the most
authoritative command we’ll ever receive, coming as it does
from ‘the Almighty One’.
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