Luke 11:42-46
'...Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces. Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which men walk over without knowing it.' One of the experts in the law answered him, 'Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.' Jesus replied, 'And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them.'
The problem with Pharisees and teachers of law is that they can only talk, but cannot take action. The Lord pointed out here:
1. They like to force difficult burdens onto others, but they don't want to take any action. It's easy for us to take the toughest laws and make others follow them. We will turn the teachings in the Bible into rules of law, and force others to follow them; when others have needs, we don't help them, and when others are weak, we like to condemn them. The spirit of Pharisees and teachers of law are often present in the church, but what Jesus stressed is how we complete the law in love. Jesus said "I am not here to abolish the law, but rather to complete the law." We can't complete the law by forcing others to do certain things. With Jesus is living inside us, we will have the desire and momentum to live with God's love, forgiveness and compassion. May God help us to forsake these things on the outside, but to build up our inner life.
2. We like people to see what we are doing, to be greeted on the street and receive blessing from others. Similarly, some Christians are like that too. We pretend to serve
God through reading the scripture, praying and serving, but we actually want people to see us. We might not be saying it, but that's what we are thinking deep down inside us. May God forgive us, let us see the serve God before Him, but not before people.
3. We like to be revered by people. Pharisees like to occupy high and important positions, but we need God's help to seek the right attitude, not just the right position, in serving Him. Let us humble ourselves before God to sincerely serve people. The Lord said: "I did not come to be served, but to serve." May God help us to not follow the Pharisees and teachers of law, let us live our life with love of Jesus Christ, because the world needs such kind of love. Let us live by the power of the Lord in our life everyday, and to demonstrate the testimony of love.
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