Hypocrites

Matthew 23:1-12

Seven Woes
1Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples: 2"The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. 3So you must obey them and do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. 4They tie up heavy loads and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

5"Everything they do is done for men to see: They make their phylacteries[a] wide and the tassels on their garments long; 6they love the place of honor at banquets and the most important seats in the synagogues; 7they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them 'Rabbi.'

8"But you are not to be called 'Rabbi,' for you have only one Master and you are all brothers. 9And do not call anyone on earth 'father,' for you have one Father, and he is in heaven. 10Nor are you to be called 'teacher,' for you have one Teacher, the Christ.[b] 11The greatest among you will be your servant. 12For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.

Bee's Thoughts:

It is sad to know that many non-Christians have been stumbled because they have seen many hyocrites in the Church. It is not surprising as there are many church goers who go to church on Sunday but are not born-again in their hearts yet.. they may profess to be Christians just beacuse they go to church. This is nothing new as Jesus had warned us about these group of people in His parable of the weats and weeds Matthew 13: 24-30, 36-43.

24Jesus told them another parable: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

The sadder thing is to see politics creeping into the Church as some Christians would try to gain power and fame for themselves in the Church. We have seen so many Christian leaders falling away because of this. "For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (v12).

Dear Lord,
Thank You for the reminding that me to becareful not to let pride creep into my heart. I pray that I will do what I 'preach' and just say or promise something without doing. I pray I will not be like the hypocrites mentioned in the passage above. Let my "yes" be yes and "no" be no. I pray You will help me grow to be more like You each day.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.