authority

One thing about Army units was that rumors were always flying. Everyone heard something from someone about where we were headed next, or what our next mission would be, or whether we were getting how chow or more MREs. In the absence of good information, we scrounged it wherever we could find it, and sometimes it wasn’t very reliable.

But when the Colonel showed up, we shut up and listened. This was the person who knew. He (or she, at one point in my career) made the decisions and approved the plans; this was his unit. Once the Colonel let us know, the scuttlebutt stopped.

I thought of those times this morning when I read Luke 4:31-32: “Then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath he taught the people. They were amazed at his teaching, because his words had authority.”

There are a lot of people telling us what to think and how to live. Keto diet or Atkins or South Beach, traditional medicine or holistic, Republican or Democrat, Christian or something else – there are a lot of viewpoints out there. Let immigrants in or keep them out? Single-payer or private insurance? Talk to North Korea or walk away? Depending on who you listen to, any of these things is either our salvation or a road to disaster.

We want that authoritative voice to tell us what’s right, which way to go, how to behave. But we forget that we have it.

Jesus, the Lord of this universe, has spoken. He gave us the Beatitudes and the Sermon on the Mount. He gave us his example along with his words. He gave us an entire Bible full of revelation. And his words change lives; they change everything.

If we only listen and believe. Otherwise, they change nothing.