Wednesday Reading: Matthew 23:1-12
Key Verse: Matthew 23:12
12 And whoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he who shall humble himself shall be exalted.
Devotion:
We all like to feel important at some stage in our lives. When we are babies we try to gain our parents attention by crying and quickly learn that if they give in we can get attention by crying. We take that further on in childhood, learning how to get our own ways and then on to adulthood where we begin to see how children start to use us as well. So long as we continue in those ways, we will continue to have a certain stigma attached to us.
The Scribes and Pharisees certainly had a stigma attached to them. The people were trusting them totally (though I am sure that some were starting to question whether what they were doing was right) and believing what they had to say. But as Jesus had pointed out already, saying one thing and doing another was not going to endear them to anyone. Jesus had just pointed this out to everyone and now that the Scribes and Pharisees had left, the people were feeling a bit lost as to what to believe. His words to them were simple, listen to what the word of God has to say and trust in it; but do not trust in what people do because what they do and what they say may well be different.
Jesus was labelling the Scribes and Pharisees as hypocrites because they enforced the law on others, but not themselves. We lift ourselves up and make ourselves seem more important than what we are just so that others will look up to us. Pride will take you further than you should go and pride will be what brings you down – even though you cannot see it. When someone is more proud than they should, all around them can see that fact but they themselves cannot – that is the trap that pride is and why Christ would have us turn our backs on pride. Pride in your work and what you do is good to encourage you and those around, but overstepping that pride will destroy so much more than you can ever imagine – and it will be broken in a blink of an eye.
Points to Ponder:
How proud are you of what you do?
Is your pride hurting others?
