PRAYER PRACTICE
Spoken Prayer – Out loud, pray for God to speak to you
through your reading. Praise God for giving us His word. Ask the Spirit to help
you read with faith, and to live out what you hear from God through the
passage.
DAILY READING
REFLECTION / DEVOTION
Motivated by Love
by Judy Webb
Then he asked them, “If one of you has a child or an ox that falls into a well on the Sabbath day, will you not immediately pull it out?” And they had nothing to say. (Luke 14:1-6)
Wednesday, we discussed
our motives and how these motives guide our conduct. Let’s examine this a bit further.
Do you think the Pharisee’s invited Jesus for dinner so they could get to know
him better? To feed this poor single man who must certainly be craving a good
home-cooked meal. Was their motive to entertain and garner favor from Jesus?
We don’t know what was
in their hearts, but Jesus did, and he was aware of the trap they were attempting
to set for him. Did you notice when Jesus asked if it were proper to heal
someone on the sabbath, they remained silent. Then a short while later he asked them if they would save their
child or livestock if they fell into a well on the sabbath, again, “they had
nothing to say.”
Jesus turned so many of his encounters
with the Pharisees into teaching moments. This chapter is filled with such instructive
endeavors. Jesus is telling everyone that healing or helping to save a life is
in fact a good thing to do, even on the Sabbath. The religious rulers may have
had less than pure motives when dealing with Jesus, but they must have also
learned a thing or two along the way. Even if they were only gathering evidence
against him, they heard God’s Word about what was right and what was wrong. And
His Word never returns empty. (Isaiah
55:11)
“Being a disciple of Christ requires humility, commitment, and servanthood.” –Max Lucado
Jesus’ motives were to teach
his disciples and his followers, how to live and love each other. He was preparing
to make disciples who would carry on the work he started. Jesus challenged
Jewish ideas about who would be in the kingdom of God and how the Kingdom would
work.
Closing prayer / Reflection: Dear Jesus, show me how to examine my motives and then to make the necessary adjustments to my attitude. Show me how to be your humble disciple. Amen
2 comments:
Thanks, Judy. I hadn't thought of the underlying motives the Pharisees when they invite him for dinner. They were hypocrites through and through, however with a couple of exceptions. I love it when Jesus is asked a question by the Pharisees whose intention is to trap him and give them justification to get rid of him. So many times he turns their argument on its head and makes them look foolish. I wonder how many of them would reflect later on what Jesus said and have a change of heart?
Thank you for the time you spend in providing insights into His Word. Refreshing!
Robin
Robin, Thank you so much for reading and also for your insightful comments. It is good for us writers to hear from our readers. I love writing these reflections because they force me to be in the Word constantly, studying and thinking deeper that ever before.
Judy
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