Tuesday 11 Oct 2022

October 11: Luke 11:37-41

Key Verse: Luke 11:41
But now as for what is inside you – be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you.

Devotion:
Jesus was not afraid of going to have meals and drinks with people who were not what we call Christians nowadays. He went to a house of a Pharisee in this story and sat down at a table to have food with them. The Pharisee was surprised Jesus did not wash before the meal – but He did have ulterior motives (both of them did!)

The Pharisee was trying to trip Jesus up for not cleansing as the scriptures had taught them to do before a meal. Jesus was going to show them the true meaning of cleansing before a meal! When the Pharisee indicated their surprise, Jesus reminded them of the difference between cleansing the outside and being clean on the inside. If you wanted to clean your cup before having a cup of coffee, you would not just clean the outside of the cup but the inside too – the inside being more important than the outside because that is what will be in contact with the coffee being made!

Too many times we show people we are clean on the outside by doing the right things according to the law and showing people we are doing the right things. But we also keep on doing things wrong in private or we neglect to do things for others when we should be. What good is allowing people to think you are good when you are not really!

God wants us to not just think about ourselves when we try to follow the scriptures, but also to think of others and what we should be doing to and for them according to the scriptures. God gave us clear commands about loving our neighbours – which means making sure we love and support others and not just say we are going to!

Points to Ponder:
How many good things do you say you will do?

How many good things do you end up doing in reality?