Failure isn't failure, it is a sign

Luke 9:53, 54 "But the people did not receive him, because his face was set toward Jerusalem." "And they went on to another village." (Journaling Study Bible, English Standard Version. Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois.)

I wrote it in ink this morning in my Bible, so future generations of my family can see it.

"One can give their all to a ministry, a relationship, a job or business endeavor, and when it is not received, it is not your personal failure."

In today's reading, it is interesting to note that Jesus was headed to Jerusalem, and was going to make a stop in Samaria. But he was not received there at the time.

His disciples wanted to call down "fire" to consume those who opposed their master.

"But he turned and rebuked them."

Jesus' solution to the momentary setback?

"And they went on to another village."

There are at least two ways of viewing this.

One might say you can see the signs .. keep on moving.

Yet this morning something else came to mind.

I thought of a few folks in my family who have worked the same job for 47 years, been married to the same person for about as long, gone to the same church for decades, and yet they have also had numerous business launches that either went for a while, and then morphed into something else, or they scrapped the plan and went with a different option.

Consistency is everything. They did not give up.

In today's scripture, we see that the message did not change. The Savior came to save the world. Some received. Some did not.

Many people (myself included, at one time) say the "Bible is just not practical for today's world."

To me, that is just like saying "newspapers are dead, nobody reads anymore."

Both statements are not accurate.

A volume full of great personal, spiritual, business, relational advice is this Bible ..

The "moving on to another city" does not say to me that one should just keep hopping from job to job, relationship to relationship, town to town, group to group, fad chasing, while burning up miles, figuratively.

Instead it speaks this: If we want to get anywhere, we are going to have to be consistent. Sometimes one thing does not work. Try something else tomorrow.

Jesus kept his eyes on the goal: of salvation for all mankind.

The practicality of the gospel is this: that he cares about all the details of our lives and wants to share our journey.

Failure is not an option, it is a road sign.

Keep moving. Keep the goal in sight. Keep showing up, loving, sharing, planning, inspiring, creating, nurturing.

May your day be blessed with love and light. May this season continue to unfold God's great mysteries to you.