Monday 16 Sep 2013

Monday Reading: Matthew 23:15-17

Key Verse: Matthew 23:15
15  Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves.

Devotion:
Jesus had a way with words where He could reduce anyone to their base parts! He would not stand on ceremony and wait until the right time to bring His petition to the right councillor at the right time so they could make the right noises, hold the right meetings and generally make themselves to be all important. Instead Jesus told it like it was and made sure that people would understand.

If you struggle with the words of this chapter then don’t panic, many of us do! This passage was aimed at the church leaders who were probably well educated and indoctrinated (be it in a good or bad way) to the extent where they would be able to keep the lessor educated people out of their groups just by talking around them. Jesus made sure that the people He was talking to understood in a manner that they could grasp. It is no good talking to a child as if they are an adult because they will switch off and start daydreaming instead. Likewise it is not good to talk down to adults as if they are children because they will reject you before you have finished your sentence!

I am certainly not a scholar who knows the Bible inside out. I am certainly not a professor who can quote verse after verse. I do read my Bible regularly and I do study so that I can bring devotions to as many people as possible; but I reach out depending on God to give me the words that will mean most to the people that need it. I certainly do not know many of you who will read this text, but I know that God knows you and that He has prepared your heart to accept His Word.

God has given me the gift of love so that I reach out to people in love and try to allow them to see how important God is in my life, encouraging them to seek Him too. I cannot shout down people nor reject them because of their beliefs or lack of belief. That is God’s domain and not mine. His task for me is to lift up His Word in love and share it with people as best I can. It is God’s Word that counts, not the church building, not the ceremonies, not the rules dictated by others… God’s Word, and God’s Word alone!

Points to Ponder:
Do you read God’s Word?

Are you still making your own rules and saying they are God’s?