Corona Devo 3300
Early this morning, I heard a blue jay outside.
Screaming.
His shrill cry would ring out, and for a moment...there would be no answer. He would then pause for another moment, and then he would shriek again.
No one was contesting. No one was challenging, but all within earshot were certainly hearing what he had to say.
His loud piercing cries continued consistently and incessantly for quite a while. He wanted everyone to know he was there, and we sure did. He (or she) was loud and (purposely) made his presence known.
Father, forgive us when this is us.
We all fall to pride in one way or another, and when we (purposely) make our spiritual presence/point/righteousness known, we amplify us and we diminish You.
Like the overbearing bluejay, we have been known to cry out verbally/online/in-person, and in-writing...in our attempts to (pridefully) crow about our case for Christ.
But this is not only an inefficient way to live out our faith--it is also ineffective and misrepresentative of the love and message that our Lord has for His people.
Others can't see Christ in us if we are too busy squawking loudly about how holy we are.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: (10) “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. (11) The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. (12) I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
(13) “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
(14) “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” ~Luke 18:9-14
But the opposite effect (of crowing loudly about ourselves) can be had for Christ if we are living and sharing His love selflessly with others.
- Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, (4) not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. ~Philippians 2:3-4
- Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. ~Proverbs 16:24
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Sharing with others about the Bible and attempting to live-out what God says--is a weighty responsibility, and we cannot "get out in front of" God. This is His story and (because of His forgiveness), we get to play a part in it, but we play a bit-part compared to the role of our Heavenly Father and Christ, His Son.
Each of our stories is really God's story, and He gets the glory.
Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” ~Revelation 5:13
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It is a good day to take a good listen to ourselves, and our squawking and screeching.
Are we consistently and incessantly blowing our own horn, possibly under the guise of godliness?
Can we be known to caw about the "right" way to do things, or the righteous way to live?
The Bible reminds us today that pride comes before the fall.
And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it. (23) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cumin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. (24) You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel.
(25) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. (26) Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.
(27) “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. (28) In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness. ~Matthew 23:22-28
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We are not the boss of everyone. We are not the boss of anyone. God is the boss, and His template is temperance and humility.
We could keep screeching and being loud and trying to strong-arm others into faith or into our way of faith. But that's not what we're here for, and why would we look like that and sound like that, when that was not what Jesus looked like and sounded like to others.
"He must become greater; I must become less.”
(31) The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. (32) He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. (33) Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. (34) For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit. ~John 3:30-34
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Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. ~James 4:9
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Lord, we humble ourselves before You this day. Forgive us when our shrill prideful cries ring out. We repent of the moments when all within earshot certainly hear what we have to say or post.
Hush our loud, piercing, prideful cries and stop us from making OUR presence known, and (instead), may we become focused on making YOUR presence known today. Amen.
You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. ~Matthew 23:26
Blessings,
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