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Daily Devotions for the Advent and Christmas Seasons
Thursday, December 10
Matthew 23:13-26
by Pansy Lew
In Matthew 23:23, Jesus said, “How terrible for you teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give to God one tenth even of the seasoning herbs, such as mint, dill, and cumin, but you neglect to obey the really important teachings of the law, such as justice and mercy and honesty. These you should have practiced without neglecting the others.”
As Jesus’ followers, we must obey his teaching of the law and practice justice, mercy, and honesty in our daily living. Do not act like the teachers of the law and the Pharisees described in these Bible verses. Unfortunately, many people are hypocrites, even people we see every day. They do good on the outside but are full of dishonesty and selfishness inside.
For example, an evangelist named Jim Bakker got into television in 1966 with Pat Robertson’s Christian Broadcasting Network and helped turn its show The 700 Club into one of the longest-running and most successful televangelism programs. Later, he established the show The PTL Club and the Heritage USA theme park. However, he became greedy and dishonest. He kept a large sum of money from the funds raised through The PTL Club, taking $3.4 million in bonuses for himself. He also kept two sets of books to conceal accounting irregularities. This led to criminal convictions. He was indeed the kind of hypocrite Jesus described.
A contrary example is Mother Teresa, a Roman Catholic nun who for forty-five years ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned, and dying. She founded a missionary order that spread throughout India and later into other countries. She was faithful, merciful, loving, and caring. She practiced Jesus’ teaching and helped others without neglecting other ways of being religious. Surely she is an example we should learn from and be like.
Prayer
Loving Jesus, please help me to be faithful, honest, and caring. Do not let me forget that I can depend on you to guide me. Amen.