July 5: Matthew 9:9-13
Key Verse: Matthew 9:11
When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?”
Devotion:
One of my biggest issues with church is the people! No, seriously, so many people get upset with others for seemingly small reasons or misunderstandings and they just don’t take the time to sit down and discuss things! They just to conclusions which eat at their hearts because they assume the worst, overthink things and generally go about things in what I would describe as an earthly or worldly manner!
God does not call us to be worldly people and to keep and hold grudges against each other; God calls us to be disciples who care for and love each other, people who are willing to take time to sit and talk things over and not to judge others through their own eyes.
The Pharisees were judging Jesus and the disciples here through what they thought God wanted based on their own thoughts and feelings. This is clearly not what God wanted because Jesus was the one listening to God and trying to reconcile people and their ways with God’s ways!
People ask me why I am at the church I am at if there are problems. That is exactly the reason why I think I am here, to try and bring people back together where they will love each other as Christ wants us to. Someone has to reach out to the marginal otherwise they will continue to be marginalised!
Points to Ponder:
Do you strive to bring people together?
Or do you strive to ‘do what is right’?