Fatally Right

Luke 14: Now it happened, as He went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees to eat bread on the Sabbath, that they watched Him closely. ² And behold, there was a certain man before Him who had dropsy. ³ And Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

⁴ But they kept silent. And He took him and healed him, and let him go. ⁵ Then He answered them, saying, “Which of you, having a donkey or an ox that has fallen into a pit, will not immediately pull him out on the Sabbath day?” ⁶ And they could not answer Him regarding these things.

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After the rededication I felt something needed to change in my life. I decided not to do certain things I categorized as “sin.” I did notice positive changes in my life so I decided to “make” others do the same.

When they did not respond well, I pointed out what the Bible said about the topic at hand. Not only did they stop listening to me, they went further in the opposite direction I was trying to steer them to.

• There have been many times when I judged people’s actions.
• There have been many times when I watched people to see if they were doing as “I” expected them to do.
• There were times when I thought “If people would just follow every word in the Bible, then they would be fine.”

Incapable of being righteous, the church leaders placed heavy burdens on the people to be “perfect” according to their made up rules. When JESUS went to their house and healed on the Sabbath, there was no rejoicing over another human who was made whole. There was silence. JESUS then challenged their interpretation of the law of the Sabbath and further silenced them.

• JESUS wants me to study HIS word in order to bring people together.
• JESUS wants me to understand HIS grace in order to restore people back to HIM.
• JESUS wants me to learn of HIM so I can grasp the grace and mercy HE has shown me.

Knowing the Bible is one thing, knowing why the Bible is here is another. Simply put, GOD recounts how HE has shown love to a world HE cursed. With Satan’s decision to “be GOD”, Satan was thrown out of heaven to the world, and he tried to ruin humans. GOD has already redeemed mankind through JESUS and desires my free will to choose HIS gift of grace.

• Are you full of pride that you have reduced a few sins?
• Are you fooling yourself about your righteousness?
• Can you seek grace and mercy even for those you feel do not deserve it?
• Will you seek restoration versus segregation today?