Nothing is interesting if you are not interested!

Matthew  17:10-13

10 The disciples, meanwhile, were asking questions. "Why do the religion scholars say that Elijah has to come first?" 11 Jesus answered, "Elijah does come and get everything ready. 12 I'm telling you, Elijah has already come but they didn't know him when they saw him. They treated him like dirt, the same way they are about to treat the Son of Man." 13 That's when the disciples realized that all along he had been talking about John the Baptizer.

Food for thought!

Elijah does come and get everything ready, but they didn’t recognize him! This statement is both informative and a regret. It’s informative because it tells us that Elijah did come; it’s a regret because it laments that Elijah was missed.

The very people whose duty was to receive Elijah, the religion scholars, missed him; they didn't know him when they saw him. They treated him like dirt, the same way they are about to treat Jesus! Why and how did this happen? Why do we miss that for which we have been waiting? Why do we miss the point? Why this mismatch?

This is like asking, why do some students, whose duty is to learn mis the point? Why do couples, who married in order to live together and love each other miss the point? Why do the religious people, whose duty is to love and serve God miss the point? Why do we miss the point?

You have probably heard the phrase, “What you see is what you get.” This saying calls to mind a law of life that has nothing to do with what is being seen and everything to do with who is doing the seeing. In other words, we see what we want to see; we learn what we want learn; we are what we want to be. 

Two people can wake up in the same neighborhood, on the same day, to the same conditions, and yet have a vastly different day depending on who is doing the seeing. One person may have a positive attitude and awaken with the thought, “Good morning, God!” The other may dwell in pessimistic shadows and greet the day with “Good God, morning!” Same words, but a vastly different emphasis. So, what you see is what you get and what I see is what I get!

As someone  once said, “Age is not a question of years. The years may wrinkle your skin but it is the lack of interest that wrinkles your soul.” This same analogy holds true with how interestingly life unfolds for you. Nothing is interesting in life, in school, in marriage, if you are not interested in life. Yes, sometimes we wait for Elijah that’s right in front of us; we may be searching for the kingdom of heaven, which is right within us all the time, yet often we recognize it not. Nothing is interesting if you are not interested!