Have you ever had the experience of reading a part of the Bible that you may have read a hundred other times, but this time you are hit in the face with the words spoken? I have found myself being undone at the words Jesus spoke in Luke 18:9-14 even though I have read it many times before. We read that scripture as a part of The Jesus Tree readings and then we watched that same scripture being acted out recently in the History channel's mini-series, The Bible (episode 4- Mission). I was humbled.
“To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
Luke 18:9-14
Luke 18:9-14
If I am honest with myself I tend to be more like the Pharisee than the tax collector. I think it is all too easy for those of us who have been going to church for awhile to get caught up in having the right answers, having God all figured out, and doing church the right way. I don't want to be like that anymore! I want to be humble, I don't want to go around looking down my nose at anyone. I never want to be so prideful that I actually think of myself or the church I attend as the one or ones who are "doing it right"! Then it becomes about me and not about Christ…. it becomes all about how I perform. I never want to forget that I am a sinner. Matthew Henry in his Concise Commentary on Luke 18 puts it this way... “Justification is of God in Christ; therefore the self-condemned, and not the self-righteous, are justified before God.”
Ultimately, it is about Christ being glorified and he is glorified in my humility, not in my pride.
Ultimately, it is about Christ being glorified and he is glorified in my humility, not in my pride.
Love
Tracy
You are just too precious. This is a journey I have found myself on for the last four years. Crying out to God almost daily to create in me a clean heart... I know I don't have it all together and He gives me the eyes to see others the way I am, broken without Him. Its been a precious journey. I am so thankful I am walking it and I pray I stay in this position of "poor in spirit" b/c I believe that is how we are truly able to reach people. Love you!
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