I have spent the most interesting time with the Lord this morning.
Socrates said "The unexamined life is not worth living"
God's Word says "Search me O Lord and know my heart, see if there is any wicked way in me"
Clean and Unclean
1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'[a] and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'[b] 5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' 6he is not to 'honor his father[c]' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[d]"
10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.
It started with the question above as I reflected on the times or the situations where I may have presented myself as the one with all of the "truth", all of the "answers", the only CORRECT solution and choices. Times when I may have believed, or at least implied, that the perspectives that I have are the only true perspectives.
Then something happens and I listen and I watch and I wonder--did I get that right??
"a little restlessness springs up within the walls, a few ideas are challenged, questions are entertained, alternative options are released" as Chuck Swindoll phrases it.
I spent some time this morning reflecting on the many times that I have surely built walls around myself. My walls have been held together by my preconceived ideas and perspectives.
I have built a few walls.
As I was listening to the Lord this morning, asking for revelation and an open heart, He, as always, responded.
I am not articulate enough to express how God works in these moments for me.
They always involve tears.
They always involve praise and worship.
They always involve change.
One of the greatest pieces of marriage advice that my honey and I ever got came from my husbands sister. Her marriage saving advice came from 6 little words....
"You might be right about that"
Over the years when my husband and I get into head to head combat, which can be often since we both have all the answers, one of us will always be the first to say.....
"You might be right about that"
Those words have saved the day on many occasions, in my marriage and in my Christian witness.
The Word that God led me to this morning was:
Matthew 15:1-14 (New International Version)
Clean and Unclean
1Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, 2"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
3Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? 4For God said, 'Honor your father and mother'[a] and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.'[b] 5But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' 6he is not to 'honor his father[c]' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. 7You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you:
8" 'These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
9They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.'[d]"
10Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand.
11What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
12Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides.[e] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
12Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
13He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. 14Leave them; they are blind guides.[e] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
How about you? Do you feel that you have ever built "walls" around your perspectives?
6 Comments:
Oh for sure, Pat! I'm so with you on feeling like I have the inside track on truth. Pride is such a robber of Biblical perspective. Some days I feel like a bandit. How selfish of me to place myself in the position of always being right. Phil. 2 commands me to be like Christ who HUMBLED himself and became as a servant. Who do I think I am to elevate my ideas, thoughts, plans as THE way of doing and seeing things.
Thank you for this very insightful post.
Have a blessed weekend.
I am sure we all do that from time to time! It's all about "me", right? ;)
I'm so glad when God reveals to me that the "me" in that situation is just too stubborn and there needs to be more of Him in there.
Have a great weekend,
Sonya
I use to lead a women's bible study....I no longer do so because I begin to experience that I was always "right" and did not want to "hear" anything differently. Yes, Pride..thinking I had been special called so why would I not be right?!?!? That's why I gave it up...I was becoming "bitter" toward anyone that questioned and/or spoke differently about what I had said because I thought it was "the gospel". How wrong!!! I've suffered for it, too!
Marsha,
I love your words.The word "Bandit" really comes to life in this reflection. It just brings to life the loss involved in such a position.
Thank you for your visit!
Pat
Sonya...there was the funniest cartoon in our newspaper this morning using the "All About Me" concept. It is good to laugh at ourselves as we learn to do things better!
Bless you girl!
Have I ever!
The biggest train wrecks in my life are based on my great masonary skills - but also my most memorable lessons.
'you might be right about that', that's a keeper!
Hugs you Blogger Slacker buddy!
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