Stumbling Blocks
After the Pharisees asked Jesus why His disciples didn’t follow the traditions of the elders, in Matthew 15:3, Jesus sharply responds “Why do you use your rules to play fast and loose with God’s commands?” (The Message)
Jesus shines His light and His mirror upon us! I thank God He does not play petty games with us as we try to play with Him and with each other. He cuts directly to the heart of the matter. God brings us back to reality. When we try to approach God all puffed up and exalted above everyone else, even above Him, He cuts us down to grown zero. We fall flat on our faces. However, when we approach God lowly and humble at heart, He lifts us up. Reflect for a minute. What stumbling block have we placed in front of our brothers and sisters? Have we told our brethren they cannot eat a certain food or listen to certain genres of music, or even dress a certain way? We seem to focus so much on the physical and outward appearance that we constantly hinder God’s work. Change can only start from the inside. Only God has the ability to bring forth true change. We need to stop getting in His way. How about ourselves? Are questioning and calling out the physical and outward appearance of others while in our hearts we are filled with deceit and hypocrisy? Do we lust after the flesh and hateful thoughts? We really need to ask God to work in our lives instead of nitpicking at how other people live. Honestly, we create our own set of standards that we can’t live up to ourselves. We should really be praising God for working in the lives of others and open ourselves to be worked on as well.
