Today’s Readings: Psalm 119:1-48; Nehemiah 8:1-18; Matthew 5:17-26; Galatians 3:10-18
Featured Readings: Matthew 5:17-26
We live in a society that makes it easy to profess one set of values with our lips and embody another set of values in our lives. We can say, for instance, that our children are the most important thing in our lives. Then – in an effort to provide the very best material things for our children – we can spend so many hours at work each week that we are completely absent from their daily lives. Or we can volunteer dozens of hours a week working as an advocate for global peace – only to let physical, emotional, or verbal violence dominate our personal relationships. Such duplicity wouldn’t set well with Jesus, for Jesus had an amazing ability to challenge people to bring their stated values in line with their lived values. Today’s Gospel reading is a great example of this. In the passage, Jesus advised his audience by saying: “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then, and only then, come back and work things out with God” (Matthew 5:23-24 from The Message). Here Jesus suggests that before we even think about going through the motions of participating in a religious ritual, we ought to first make sure our hearts are in the right place. Today, I would ask you to search your heart and ask yourself: “Is there an area in my life where I am saying one thing, and doing another?” For most of us, there is at least one area of our life where this is true. If that’s the case for you, make some time today to help you bring your professed values in line with your lived values. Til next time…
Featured Readings: Matthew 5:17-26
We live in a society that makes it easy to profess one set of values with our lips and embody another set of values in our lives. We can say, for instance, that our children are the most important thing in our lives. Then – in an effort to provide the very best material things for our children – we can spend so many hours at work each week that we are completely absent from their daily lives. Or we can volunteer dozens of hours a week working as an advocate for global peace – only to let physical, emotional, or verbal violence dominate our personal relationships. Such duplicity wouldn’t set well with Jesus, for Jesus had an amazing ability to challenge people to bring their stated values in line with their lived values. Today’s Gospel reading is a great example of this. In the passage, Jesus advised his audience by saying: “If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then, and only then, come back and work things out with God” (Matthew 5:23-24 from The Message). Here Jesus suggests that before we even think about going through the motions of participating in a religious ritual, we ought to first make sure our hearts are in the right place. Today, I would ask you to search your heart and ask yourself: “Is there an area in my life where I am saying one thing, and doing another?” For most of us, there is at least one area of our life where this is true. If that’s the case for you, make some time today to help you bring your professed values in line with your lived values. Til next time…
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