Mark 8 -Don't be Spiritually Stupid

"Watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that of Herod," Jesus warned them. And, their response was, "is it because we have no bread?" Just several verses before Jesus took seven loaves of bread and fed four thousand. So he began to ask them, "Why are you talking about having no bread? Do you still not see or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes but fail to see, and ears but fail to hear? And don't you remember? When I broke the five loaves for the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" "Twelve," they replied. "And when I broke the seven loaves for the four thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you pick up?" They answered, "Seven." (verses 17-20) These guys had been with Jesus, seen his miracles, witnessed his teachings, heeded his warnings and rebukes, and now when he is trying to teach them a lesson, they draw a spiritual blank. Do you have eyes to see but fail to see? And ears but fail to hear? Are you spiritually blind, deaf, or stupid? Sometimes I feel like Jesus is teaching me something right under my nose and sometimes I think I look to my peers and say something dumb like, "it is because I forgot the bread?" Often times I feel like he has to correct me, "No Cory, listen to what I am saying, think about the things I have done before." These are his close followers so we can expect the same. I think the best thing to avoid these spiritual blunders is to pray often for spiritual eyes to see and for spiritual ears to hear what God is up to. Then when he asks, "Do you still not understand? (verse 21) We can say, "oh yeah... I get it." Pray often that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better... and that the eyes of you heart may be enlightened (Ephesians 1:17-18).