Friday 25 Aug 2023

August 25: Matthew 22:34-40

Key Verse: Matthew 22:39
And the second is like it: “Love your neighbour as yourself.”

Devotion:
Whenever someone in charge thinks their position may be at risk because of another person rising through the ranks who seems to be able to do a better job than them, they either accept new people can do better or they rebel and try to make the next person look bad in the eyes of the people! This is no more true than in politics where the politicians seem to spend more time fighting amongst themselves than they do looking out for the people.

The Pharisees and the Sadducees had made an art out of political wrangling and many people probably felt lost at the time because of their constant bickering between themselves. Sadly modern time are no different because we have many so called church leaders who would rather take a swipe at each other than look after their congregations!

Jesus’ answer this this was to simply remind everyone of their duty toward God. To love Him more than anything else in their jobs – which means making sure He is above all and is the choice before their own fame and fortune! Then the next is to love the people around them, not their own rewards and their own popularity! This is a bit of a kick in the teeth for politicians because they base their careers around their own popularity!

If we are willing to make the same goals in our own lives then our relationship with God is going to be a whole lot better. The more we love God and the more we love the people God has put around us, then the more love and peace we will share in our communities; the better off the whole community will be too. It is not all about what we can do for ourselves to make our own lives better, but what we can do for and with others to make our communities better.

Points to Ponder:
What would you do if you were famous?

Do you find it easier to love God as yourself?