Confessions of a Recovering Pharisee!

Luke 11:42 (The Message)
I’ve had it with you! You’re hopeless, you Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing every nickel, & dime you get, but manage to find loopholes for getting around basic matters of justice and God’s love. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required.

As you can see, our scripture for today is one verse. One powerful,‘make me tremble’ verse!

According to Richards Expository Dictionary,“In Jesus day, the Pharisees were the most respected and influential group In Judaism.” Yet Jesus calls them frauds! They actually believed that the external rules they followed were more important than the condition of their hearts! They valued knowledge and ritual, but they did not have love and mercy in their hearts. Jesus is very direct, warning them they must get their priorities straight…loving God and people, more than rules and rituals.

I want to read this verse and all the verses about the Pharisees and be shocked at their blindness and self interest, even in the presence of the living God. I want so much to think that never happens to me. That I have never made a list in my mind about what it should look like to be a ‘good’ Christian and then checked myself and others against that list, instead of what Jesus taught us is the first and greatest law.

“To love the Lord my God with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength and love my neighbor as myself”…How many times has Jesus had to say to me, by His Spirit…Woe to you, you are being a fraud! You are not loving, you are not showing mercy…

Thank you Lord, that your Word, even one verse of it, can bring us to our knees, can bring us to repentance, and restoration….

Today I choose relationship over rules, I choose love over judgement, I choose mercy. I choose You!

Sherry Haake