You can build a house of cards but it is fragile and easily toppled. I am reading through (actually listening to) the book of John as I exercise in the morning. The chapters are long and full of stories, teachings by Jesus, and lessons. Although the audience and the culture that Jesus was addressing was Jewish, the lessons apply across time and cultures. This morning a thought emerged from chapter 5. Jesus has healed a man who has been crippled for decades, but he has done this on the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders have decided that healing people was "work" and shouldn't be performed on the Sabbath. On its face this seems an absurd rule to anyone with common sense. But we live in a world of manmade rules today and many of these have questionable wisdom. It seems that we will surround ourselves with some kind of structure to function within. Either that structure will have its basis in what God says, or what men say. Sometimes, as with the Pharisees, men will make rules and that try to put the stamp of God on them. But, as Jesus showed, there will come times of direct conflict when the ways of man and the ways of God are at cross purpose. In fact, the culture of man may roll along just fine it would appear until God directly intervenes. It is a good self-question to ask if we are allowing the Lord to build His house for our lives, or whether we are allowing the culture of man to be our framework. The Pharisees did not accept Jesus for who He was because their allegiance was to their manmade framework. It is good to challenge our allegiance as well! See what Jesus has to say to the Pharisees in chapter 7:
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John 7:18 "Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies."
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blessings,
Rob Smith
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