September 6th

September 6th -- Matthew 23:1-39

Give the passage a read over, please, even though it's long!

Wow. Jesus really seems to slam the religious leaders, here. However, all of what he said is true. Now, there's on verse that I find sums up most of this passage. Verse 24 says "Blind guides! You strain your water so you won't accidentally swallow a gnat, but you swallow a camel!" The religious leaders became so caught up in all the tiny, nitpicky details that they forgot the point. They put their relationship with Christ on the backburner in order to make sure every tiny tassel was the right place, and every last vow was spoken properly. They were so heavily focused on the rules of God that they were looking everywhere but in front of them for the answer in front of them. Not only were they all missing out on finding the Kingdom of God because of this, but they were leading other people off on the wild goose chase, too, where the rules must be some sort of clues which lead to some sort of answer when they're all properly handled. Now, I know myself well enough to know -and admit- I can be a bit OCD about stuff at times. Details are a big thing to me. I have to have things properly organized or I don't function as well in that environment. So, sometimes with school projects, or while trying to clean my room, I miss the bigger pictures because I get way too focused on the smaller details. I know I do that with my faith, sometimes, too. That's something I have been trying not to. It's easy to put your faith in a box and leave it in a shelf at the back of your mental closet. Pull it down and open it for Sunday, maybe youth group, or perhaps whenever you are so desperate you call on God. That's the attitude some of us have. We focus too much on those details, and forget to remember that faith is a big, general thing. We need to look at the big picture. Our faith covers all our life. We just need to let it.

So, are you straining for minor stresses and swallowing down catastrophes? Let go and let God. Your faith covers your whole life, so let it.

God bless! Shalom!