Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence.
(Matthew 23:25 (NIV))
We read this and many other passages about the Pharisees, and we think that we would never do what they did!
We like to think that we have more insight than they did, but do we?
They failed to recognize the truth when He was right in front of them simply because tradition and misinterpretation, and not God's Word, had dictated what truth was. They were guilty of more than that, but in essence, they relied on human understanding and human perception. They judged by outward appearances and not by what is within a person's heart. They judged by the letter of the Law and not the intent of the Law.
With that in mind, how would you react to someone showing up at your church in filthy rags? Would you judge them based on their outward appearance, especially when all of your friends are clean and nicely dressed? To be honest with you, I don't know too many people whose initial reaction would not be to give them the "once over" and then simply want to ignore them, but is that what we are called to do?
In all honesty, each of us are guilty of being a sinner in need of a savior. Some of us admit it, while others will simply pretend that everything is okay while they put up a false front.
According to the definition of the word "hypocrite," we have all been guilty of putting on a false appearance of virtue. We have all been guilty of acting in contradiction to what we profess to believe. We have all been guilty of cleaning the outside while ignoring the inside. We have all been guilty of carefully crafting a facade so that we look good in the eyes of the world while we are still a sinner by our very nature.
The important question that you need to ask yourself is one that Jesus is asking each of us every day. It is a question that we must truthfully answer, and if our answer is not what Jesus desires of us, then we must repent.
Are you ready for the question?
Are we guilty of being Pharisees?
Copyright 1998 - 2024 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
https://www.dailylivingministries.org
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