Christ as our example!
Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . You, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. –Matthew 23:27-28
A little boy was seated next to his father during church one Sunday morning. The father grumbled incessantly throughout the service: the sanctuary was too warm, the preacher was preaching too long. They went out to lunch, and the boy’s father continued to complain: the waiter was too slow, the food when it came was cold. Then the father said to his son, “Let’s pray. Dear Lord, thank You for the time of worship we had and for our pastor whom You used so powerfully this morning. Thank You for this food. In Jesus’s name, amen.”
The little boy looked up at his dad and said, “Does God hear everything we say?” The father nodded, so the boy continued, “Did He hear you this morning when you were fussing about the service? And just now when you were complaining about the food?”
The father said, “Yes, Son, of course He did.”
“Did God hear you when you just prayed?”
“Son, God hears everything we say. Eat your french fries.”
The little boy furrowed his brow. “Then what part does He really believe?” An excerpt from a devotion by Rev. Robert Jeffries.
How easy it is for us as Christians to act out in a God honoring manner in certain areas of our life and in a completely opposite way in other situations. God says this should not be so! Yet, as sinful human beings it is quite evident, we do not always act in a way which is pleasing to our Lord and in accordance with His will. The sad part about this truth is that many times when we are not acting in a way which is pleasing to Almighty God, we try to justify our actions and attitudes to make them appear to be noble and acceptable practices.
“Man sees the outside, but God sees the heart.” (paraphrase of 1 Samuel 16:7) We may be able to fool the people around us by the life we lead on the outside, especially when we are trying to fit into a certain group or community of people. Yet, the Lord knows what the true intentions and motivations of our heart are, and He will not be fooled.
Jesus has given us an excellent example to follow as His disciples. He lived a sinless life in perfect obedience to His Father’s will. Now is this ever going to be possible for us to carry out? No! But that is exactly why Jesus died on the cross as the perfect sacrifice for your and my sins. This He did out of His deep love for us. He accomplished what we could not, so we could be blessed with what we could never gain on our own: salvation. For that very reason, it should be our intention to live a Christ-like life, a life which gives a positive witness for Jesus to the world around us. And when we fail in our attempts, and we often will, let us repent and seek the Lord’s forgiveness and help, so we might serve Him faithfully in what we say and do. Pastor McCarty