The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus. He said to them, You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight."
Jesus was counter-cultural then, and to follow Him now is to be counter-cultural. It's not about wealth, but it is about priority. Our culture sets up wealth and all it will bring as the gold standard. Jesus sets God as the gold standard. Here's what our current day Pharisees might be doing:
- Making sure the Mercedes payment is made before the tithe.
- Watching 'Desperate Housewives' and 'The Medium' but missing daily time with God.
- Blowing off worship on Sunday because of a late ball game on Saturday night.
- Spending more time and money on the external look than on the internal integrity.
- Thinking that throwing money at a cause is the same as giving of self to said cause.
- "Going through the motions" so it "looks good," and not connecting head and heart.
- Parents expecting a different moral code to apply to children than applies to themselves.
Ouch! If we want to get real with ourselves, we might ask today, 'what in my life is allowing me to sneer at Jesus?' None of us would do this deliberately, but if we're honest we might do it thoughtlessly. So today, I'm just inviting you to think about it; then decide if you want to change anything.
I'd love to hear your thoughts on this.
Peace,
Pastor Judi
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