Chickens!

So I really hope you love the title of my post today. It seems random but it is not in vain. I was reading in Matthew 23 verse 37 and 38 which says, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." Honestly I feel that this whole chapter Jesus is throwing down on the people around Him, plainly saying they are hypocritical and saying they kill the prophets. He talks in this chapter a lot about the Pharisees, who lead the people in many respects, and are leading them to destruction.

This seems very intense for some of us and that's why we don't talk much about Jesus saying these things. But what I have loved about the New Testament study I am doing is that if you study everything Christ says, you know He is not around for people to like Him and to be the most popular political candidate, so to speak. I read a talk from all the way back in 1951 by Mark E. Peterson where he lists a lot of different sources where Christ uses the metaphor of a hen gathering her chickens under her wings, and it really shows Christ wants to protect us and be our Savior,but for that fully to take effect, we need to let that happen, instead of being those he says "would not!" Now we may not be killing the prophets, but definitely can "kill" their sayings by simply ignoring them or in some cases fighting against them. This chapter in Matthew reminded me that being like the Pharisees may happen more in my personal life than I care to admit. Ignoring certain commandments is a classic example of this. I need to allow Christ to be my protector and Savior and realize He is there to help me repent and to be my strength.