January 27, 2011
Read Luke 12:1-12
Luke 11:40
You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also?
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for concentrating on the outward signs of faith while neglecting the inward condition of piety.
True faith means to let God scrutinize all your inner thoughts, sieve your motives and purify your intentions. It is the total giving over of your inner life to God for His cleansing which will then result in a pure life.
This inner purification comes only from the light, which refers to Jesus Himself (v 33-37). The light has two purposes – to open our eyes to the need of salvation or to show us our love of darkness. For those who love darkness and choose not to believe that Jesus is the light, they have chosen to ignore the warning of Jonah. If so, the Queen of the South and the people of Nineveh will condemn us on the day of judgement. (v. 29-32)
How often do we think that if I go to church, do all the observable things and give out ‘model’ answers during Bible studies, we are good and real believers. If we focus on that, it becomes mere religiosity and an empty shell.
If our thoughts, judgements of things and people are not brought under the Lordship of Christ’s kingdom, a dichotomy will result in our faith. With no life-change in motives and heart, such prolonged practice will discourage us or harden us from pursuing God wholeheartedly. However, we will get weary of our own charades sooner or later. This is the deception the devil will commonly use to make us blame God for not changing us and giving us the abundant life He promises in the Bible.
Yet all the while, the root of our problem lies in not surrendering to God fully and allowing his truth and light to be our guide.
The only solution is to show signs of faith and train ourselves in the discipline of self-examination as in
Psalm 139:23, 24
“Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.”
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