866) As I sat in Sunday school or vacation Bible school growing up, I’d listen to the stories of great men and women of God who appear within the pages of The Book. I’d sometimes say to myself, Well, no wonder they were followers of God; they saw great things and miracles that we don’t see today. The problem with my thinking was that I assumed that seeing is believing, until I looked closer at God’s word.

In Matthew 11:20-24, it says something surprising, but because it’s just a sentence, it can be missed. It says in verse 20 that in the very places Jesus did most of His miracles, many of the people did not repent and follow Him. This causes me to pause and ask why?

I’m not sure I am equipped to answer this question, but I have some thoughts on it. Perhaps these people Jesus is referring to saw these miracles and thought: a. they are illusions b. Jesus used some sort of trick or even c) when their emotions were “high” they were all for following Jesus, but when they came “back down” to earth, they said, no, not now.

It’s easy to have a faith just based on illusions or feelings but when these dissipate, what’s left? So, the hard fact is, just because you may see great things doesn’t mean you’ll become the next great minister or teacher of God’s word on this earth. You still need faith.