Spacey Noodles. Ugh!

There are some songs that come on my Pandora radio list that are so obnoxious and grating that I have to forward to the next song. One of them is Spacey Noodles. What is that supposed to mean? I cringe when it comes on. If you like this kind of music there is something seriously wrong with you. You might want to get that checked. We all have our "fingers-on-the-blackboard" experiences. These are things that cause us to stiffen up and get hard. In fact in John 6:60 Jesus' listeners said, "This is a hard statement; who can listen to it?" It was a skleros logos, logos meaning word and skleros meaning hardness, as in sklerosis (sclerosis) of the liver or heart. Remember Jesus is called the Logos in John 1:1ff. He is full of grace and truth (John 1:16-17). But this gracious and truthful Lord could speak and some would cover their ears just as the Jewish leaders did in Acts 7 when Stephen spoke truth to them. They also ground their teeth and became violent. Jesus and those who teach his truths often set people off. People often "take it wrong."

Jesus is laboring in preaching to them about LIFE, true food, and things that matter. He is explaining what will not satisfy and what will. He so desperately wants to communicate to them this new manna that the Father has sent from heaven. He is straining to get across realities that can change his hearers' lives forever. And what does he get? "This is too hard to listen to." Like the winds of James 3:4 Jesus was drying these folks out, and causing hardness to begin setting in. In Acts 26:14 Jesus asks Saul (Paul) if it is HARD to kick against the pricks or goads. The shepherd would goad his flock forward by poking them a little in the rear end. Some might resent the poke and kick. They were being oppositionally defiant. If you don't understand that concept ask any teacher what it means. The servant who buried his talent in Matthew 25:24 considered his master to be so harsh that he was fearful and would not act. The master told him that if he were actually as harsh as he perceived him to be it should have motivated him to act, to try to multiply his investment.

Some take any expectation as a threat to their own autonomy. If we see ourselves as the final arbiter of our lives, then we might kick against those who seek to move us or persuade us. There is no more submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. I do it My Way. The way to prevent becoming dried out by even true statements given by God's servants is to tune your ear to really listen, to understand, to accept, and to obey, putting it into practice. There are two types who hear truth. There are those who are reserved, guarded, reluctant to let it penetrate and change them. Then, there are the refreshing souls who will listen carefully, ask questions, get to the point of understanding, and will eagerly apply the teaching to their lives in practical ways, and be thankful for the teacher who brought words of life to them. These are the kind who get it.