I am recently returned from vacation and celebration of 25 years of Marriage, hence the time off from blogging.
This morning I was reading Matt 12: 9-14 which is the story of how Jesus healed the man with the withered hand. I was specifically meditating on the question that the Pharisees asked Jesus - “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”
I know this question is about obeying the law to do no work on the Sabbath, but to me it points to an even more important point - do we follow the laws of religion or do we represent God's heart? One would think that answer to this question would be obvious, but the Pharisees prided themselves on living in obedience to the Law. Hundreds of years of debating and discussing the finer points of the law, such as - what is work as it relates to the sabbath - had apparently resulted in the whole purpose of the law being lost.
I was thinking about my own life and wondering if I have put the laws of religion before the purposes of God? Have we, in the church, lost our vision of what's really important to God or what is on His heart in our pursuit of programs or activity? Are we so busy Sunday mornings that we don't reach out to those in need?
Lord help us to desire mercy over sacrifice (Mt 12:7) and help us to see where we have put our religious practices before You.
No comments:
Post a Comment