“I look for your deliverance, LORD. Genesis 49:18
“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. Matthew 23:23
Death and legacy. Who am I really? Who do I want people to remember when I am gone?
Jacob blessed each of his sons before he died. Most of what he said had to do with who they were as grown men. Their legacies had already been determined by the things they had already done.
Jesus warned the Pharisees that their preoccupation with their public personas was not scoring any points in heaven or on earth. While they were trying to be so “holy”, they were just making people around them miserable.
Many Christians do the same thing. I remember hearing that my niece said to my daughter that nobody could live in my “perfect world”. I was trying so hard to bring them up right that I was stressing out everyone around me, including myself. I hate the thought that I am viewed as a perfectionist rather than a loving and forgiving person. I don’t want that to be my legacy.
But the good news is that among those verses is a prophesy regarding a Messiah, Jesus, the Lion of Judah, who will deliver us from this body of death.
Praise God. My future is not determined by my sins, but by the One who has saved me by his blood.
Thank you Jesus. Help me not to be a pharisaical blind guide. May my words lead others to You, to hope and not into despair. I pray these things in the precious name of Jesus. Amen
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Reggie – Thanks so much for covering for me! I quickly did a post after realizing that I forgot, and when I went to post it I saw that you already had something posted. And guess what – it is on the same verse!!! And the thoughts are similar… I loved this part: “I hate the thought that I am viewed as a perfectionist rather than a loving and forgiving person. I don’t want that to be my legacy.”. Thanks again for covering….
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Just for grins, here is the quick post that I did…
How often do I focus intently on minute matters and leave the more important matters go? How wonderful that we have words right from Jesus that tell us what the important matters are…
Justice
Mercy
Faithfulness
I think I will write these on an index card for the week and tape it to my monitor.
(Immediately my mind goes off on a tangent… I have three monitors at work on three different networks – should I put this on all three? One of them is a shared terminal in a work area with lots of people, do I really put it there? UGH… I am already off and running, spending precious time on minute details…)
Lord, I know exactly what you mean by these verses. As has been a common theme for me lately, it is so much easier to see this in others than in myself. In fact, I can be an expert at seeing this and pointing it out. But I know that we all have work to do in this area. Yes, even me. Let these words be a guide to me this day… Justice. Mercy. Faithfulness.
You’re welcome. I love it when God drives home a point by the Holy Spirit tugging at all our hearts at the same time. I will take your suggestion and write each one on an index card, posting one on my computer, one on my phone and one on my kindle. I may share these tomorrow at the detention center bible study as well. Thanks
I loved both posts! Jesus sort of got us all in Mtt 23. Who doesn’t long for recognition? and who isn’t quick to see the faults in others before their own? I wrestle with this but then fall back on Ps 139 where I can rest on God seeing all of me. My motivations are only hidden from myself. He isn’t surprised by my hypocrisy, only I am and He loves me all the same and opens his gracious arms to me and tells me to come home to Him and leave my perfectionism behind. Life becomes so much richer resting on his merits and not my own. Now to just keep that in view throughout the day…
Resting on His merits…a wonderful restful place…yes…
Reggie and Sue! Thanks for a double dose. Loved it. Index card reminder and legacy … excellent thoughts out of holy scriptures.
(Reggie: I have only known you as loving and forgiving, gentle and compassionate.)
Courtney
yeah. Left to my own devices I tend to beat myself up for not being good enough…I am slowly learning that that’s not what Jesus has in mind for me.
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How can we strive so hard to be perfect only to find that we have turned everybody off with our Christianity? The passion from which we love God energizes the self-righteousness from which we judge our neighbor. The holiness of separation from the world becomes our imprisonment of isolation from those we love most. No amount of rationalization or intellectualizing can soothe this spirit. Reggie answered the question of who will save us from this death? Only Jesus Christ, our Lord!