Overlooked Items

Luke 23: ¹³ Pilate called together the chief priests, the rulers and the people, ¹⁴ and said to them, ‘You brought me this man as one who was inciting the people to rebellion. I have examined him in your presence and have found no basis for your charges against him. ¹⁵ Neither has Herod, for he sent him back to us; as you can see, he has done nothing to deserve death. ¹⁶ Therefore, I will punish him and then release him.’

¹⁸ But the whole crowd shouted, ‘Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!’ ¹⁹ (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.)

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Wanting to move up in the company, I picked and chose who I sided with. After careful planning I found the right mix of people who could pull me up to where I wanted to be. One person in particular liked flirting with the employees in a drunken state. “Want to come to our afterwork gathering?” was the question with hidden meaning. Hesitantly I said “Sure.”

• There were times when I overlooked what was going on to get what I wanted.
• There were times when I overlooked the poor qualities of the crowd so I could get my desires.
• There were times when I overlooked how people behaved and joined in on the “fun.”

Both Pilate and Herod could not find anything “wrong” with what JESUS did, especially since they did not follow GOD’s laws anyway. The church leaders stirred up the crowd to choose a murderer and a rioter named Barabbas to be released instead of JESUS. They overlooked Barabbas’ poor qualities to get what they wanted.

• GOD wants me to look at my poor qualities before I examine someone else.
• GOD wants me to “test the spirit” of the crowd in order to decide if I should hang with them.
• GOD wants me to bear fruit and not side with the crowd who does not serve HIM.

Being placed in a bubble away from sinners is not where GOD wants me to be. HE wants me to insert myself along side of people, telling them I am a sinner who has been saved by grace. BUT GOD does not want me to join in on the blatant sins that I could easily fall into.

HE wants me to overlook sins of people in order to forgive them rather than joining in. GOD wants me to show HIS grace so HE can show even more.

• Are you joining in with the crowd?
• Do you have complaints about someone GOD may be using for HIS purpose?
• Will you stop your blind complaints and allow GOD to lead you instead of following your desires?