13 NOV 23 Monday: A Closer Walk Devotional
“You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” Matt. 15:7-9
One of the most difficult things is correcting people due to error or sin. Those who make a lifestyle of sin become blind to what they do because it has become second nature to do the wicked or evil, then cover their tracks like no one will notice. The one who always notices is God. He not only sees the sin we do, but he also sees the motivation and condition of the heart.
Jesus was very straightforward and responded to people based on their heart’s condition and the attitude that came from it. Those who were broken, humbled, and knew they sinned and felt shame, he treated them with gentleness. Those who were proud, hard-hearted, and blind to their sin he engaged with a lot of salt. In other words, he gave a harsh rebuke.
Self-righteousness is a sin that blinds and deceives a person to think of themselves as good despite evidence to the contrary. God lays out in the Ten Commandments showing what holiness and righteousness are and breaking them defines sin or evil. People delude themselves into thinking they are good even though they have broken all of the laws.
The only way to open the eyes of a spiritually blind person is with the Holy Spirit and the Law. The Spirit prepares their heart and the law breaks it by revealing their sin and need for salvation. Those who remain in their state of delusion and uphold their self-righteousness after admitting their lawlessness are condemned. They will in turn give you hate and heat.
Those who are affected and convicted of this examination will repent, turn to Jesus, and be thankful for the conversation. Those are the ones that you can have a real impact on for eternity. Jesus expects us to talk with both types of people and leave the results to Him, for he is the Judge.
What did Jesus do with the self-righteous?
Reading Plan: Psalm 80; Neh. 9:1-15; Rev. 18:1-8; Matt. 15:1-20
No comments:
Post a Comment