Dance, Monkey, Dance

Luke 23:8

Herod was delighted at the opportunity to see Jesus, because he had heard about him and had been hoping for a long time to see him perform a miracle.

Some enterprising fellow got the idea to put a monkey on a leash and play on an organ while the monkey danced and did tricks. The idea was that you came for the show, and paid with a few coins for seeing it. The crowd yelled, dance, monkey, dance!

In today’s verse, Herod was looking forward to meeting Jesus, but not because he wanted to follow him. No, Herod just wanted to see a miracle. Herod must have been pretty disappointed when Jesus didn’t answer any of Herod’s questions or perform any miracles. Why should Jesus answer? Herod just wanted a show, not the truth. Herod said, dance, Jesus, dance.

There are a lot of people today who say they will follow Jesus if they can see a miracle, or if Jesus will do something for them. They all say, dance, Jesus, dance.

But that’s not how salvation works. Salvation comes to us when we believe and pledge to follow Jesus, not when we are convinced because of something we saw.

God is not going to do a stage show or sleight of hand just to get you to believe in him and follow him. You must take that step of believing in your heart before you can accept him. “Foxhole conversions” rarely go the distance.

Don’t make the mistake of waiting for a sideshow, take a step of faith and believe in Jesus now, don’t wait. He’s not going to dance for you, but he will accept you, sins and all.

Today’s Readings: Exodus 6-8; Luke 23

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