This Generation

Lk. 7:31-32

"To what then shall I compare the people of this generation, and what are they like? They are like children sitting in the marketplace and calling to one another, "'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not weep.'"

 
Jesus and John the Baptist elicited a common response from some of the people of this generation. In the case of John the Baptist they considered him to have a demon because he ate no bread or drank wine. Yet, Jesus came healing diseases, plagues, and evil spirits, and the people called him a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners. Jesus said they were like immature children, children who lacked any maturity of response. Whether they played the flute or sang dirges, they had the same response, one of rejection. They refused to dance with the flute or weep with the dirge, instead they were apathetic and unfeeling. What a sad indictment! But how characteristic of today too. When a generation is given over to satisfying fleshly desires, the awareness or satisfaction of a spiritual need is hard to find. It is the rare person who would respond correctly; in fact, it is only the person who is drawn by the Spirit of God. Apart from His drawing, Jesus is not recognized for the Savior, the Son of God, and the Shepherd who knows His sheep by their names.
 
Father,
Help me to be aware of my true spiritual needs and to respond willingly and wholeheartedly to the Spirit's leading.
In Jesus name,
Amen