‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others.’ - Matthew 23:23
How easily we judge the scribes and Pharisees while overlooking the self-righteous side-stepping which lives within every one of us. We draw boundary lines around our hearts, lives, and possessions: ’You can have this, Lord… but not this.’ ‘Just tell us how much we need to give God - give us the percentage, for we are not as concerned about how much to give as what You will allow us to keep.’
The One who owns the silver in gold in every mine, the cattle on a thousand hills, who created, and sustains the universe, and entrusts pieces of His creation to our stewardship is not after what you ‘have,’ in your hand - as though He needed anything (Haggai 2:8, Ps 50:10, Heb 1:3, Gen 1:28, Acts 17:25). He is always after your heart. And often the way to our hearts is through our hands.
Open our hands, Lord. Give us obedient hearts. We follow in the steps of You who learned obedience by what You suffered. In Your name, amen.
Learning,
AB
[PART 1 of 2]