I am so grateful for the peace of Your presence, Father. I am unworthy on so many fronts but because You intervened where I could not, I have been made worthy by accepting Your gift of grace. I humbly come before You this morning to sit at Your feet. Teach me, I pray. Amen.
Matthew 12:9-14 (<<click the green)
Before I slept last night, I read through today’s passage. When I read of Your interaction with religious leaders of Your day – the Pharisees in this case – it is easy for me to point fingers and roll my eyes at their petty shallowness. On many levels they seem like children who have ruled the playground, bullying those about them to play by the rules they have come up with. And now someone who knows the rules –actual someone who wrote the rules – has shown up and their shenanigans are over. And, as the children they are, they are none too happy and begin plotting how to rule the playground once more…even if that means eliminating the competition.
But as the adage goes when I point at someone else, more fingers are pointing at me than at them. How many time am I less than cooperative. How often do I get ticked because things don’t go my way? I want this and instead get that and am quick to make my displeasure known.
Lord, sometimes we find ourselves in places or circumstances in which we are unhappy or unsatisfied. And we grumble and fuss and complain. But how many times have You lead us to those places? How often are we where we find ourselves because You have a reason for us to be there? How many times have we thwarted Your will of reaching out and touching the lives of others because we have been too consumed by our own selfish desires and wishes?
Lord, give me Your eyes to see. May Your heart burn within my chest. May Your love consume me. Make me Your own. Use me as You will. Amen.
Apr 11th, 2018, Wed, 5:15 am
