No acceptance at home

"Now it came to pass, when Jesus had finished these parables, that He departed from there. 54When He had come to His own country, He taught them in their synagogue, so that they were astonished and said, “Where did this Man get this wisdom and these mighty works?  55Is this not the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary? And His brothers James, Joses, Simon, and Judas?  56And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this Man get all these things?”  57So they were offended at Him.
But Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honour except in his own country and in his own house.” 58 Now He did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief."                                       Matthew 13:53-58    NKJV

Jesus visited His home town and went into the synagogue to do some teaching. However, He was not welcome there, Obviously, they recognised Him as the carpenter's son, not as a prophet or teacher. They were stunned. They spoke between themselves asking, 'How can this be, He is just a carpenter and yet He is standing before us, teaching?' They were offended. Yet, note that they recognised His wisdom and mighty acts (v54+57) But their eyes were blind and their hearts hard. It is possible that they didn't want to recognise Him at all. They knew Him as a villager and had never seen Him like this before. There was no room for God to work on an ordinary person here. No faith just stony ground.

When a person becomes a Christian, their whole outlook changes and they have different values. This can stir up bad feeling with families, neighbours and work colleagues. They are used to you the way they know you. Now when they look and listen, it is like looking at a stranger, rather like the people were with Jesus in His home town, and they become offended. Terms like, 'Who do they think they are, Lording it over us.' And rather like Jesus, who found it hard to touch base with them because there was no faith, it is the same for us too. It is like talking to a brick wall and they think that we are crazy.

Christianity can split families apart; it is so costly for you to make the choice of following Jesus. But, it is all very costly not to. We are looking at life or death and choices have to be made. We have to count the cost. Rather like Jesus, you may not be able to make any changes in your home surroundings and it may be very tense at first. However, just hang on to the fact that, like the people in Nazareth recognised; your family and friends are noticing your wisdom and mighty acts too, even though they can't make sense of it; they know it is not ordinary. They're witnessing the Holy Spirit at work and they don't even know it. Just pray that their eyes will be opened and avoid being rude or falling into a negative conversation with them. Let the Holy Spirit do the work.

If you don't know Jesus or, have fallen away, why not say this prayer right now
Lord Jesus, I have sinned. I ask you to forgive me and be my Lord and Saviour. Please come into my heart, fill me with Your Spirit and give me a brand new start today. In Jesus' Name. Amen
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