Luke 7:29, 30 And all the people that heard [him], and the publicans, justified God, being baptized with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of him.
There are people who keep attending preachings after preachings. If any known Preacher is in town holding a session, they will be there. But when you see their lives, it is the same; there is no change in them.
In today’s scripture, we see the publicans, who were seen as great sinners, respond and accept change through baptism, but the Pharisees and Sadducees reject the counsel, for they consider themselves good; they do not get baptised.
People who think themselves to be good will come to Church and remain the same; they will never grow or mature. Only when we face our iniquities, our weakness, and our mistakes will we walk the path of change and grow.
I will not say it is good to fall once in a while, but I will say if you fall once in a while and realise it, it is good.
We are all born of human fathers and mothers, unlike Jesus, whose birth was a surrogate birth. So we all have sin nature in us from our birth. It is our ups and downs that take us higher and higher; if there are no downs, then we will not go up, for we are not free of sin nature, and our battle with it needs to continue till we sleep in Christ. What we need to do is fight and overcome that aspect of sin nature; if we are facing the same sin nature again and again, then we are not climbing up but going in circles in the same place.
[Prayer Starter]
Lord, You are Almighty God. You are Holy God; You are Perfect in every way. You have commanded us too to seek holiness (be holy), for we are Your Children/Sons. Lord, we pray we realise the battle is within, with our old selves. We pray we introspect ourselves regularly, surrender and work on the areas that need change…
We make this prayer in Jesus’ Name. Amen.
[Reference Scriptures]
Psalms 51:4 Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done [this] evil in thy sight: that thou mightest be justified when thou speakest, [and] be clear when thou judgest.
Romans 3:4-6
4 God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar; as it is written, That thou mightest be justified in thy sayings, and mightest overcome when thou art judged.
5 But if our unrighteousness commend the righteousness of God, what shall we say? [Is] God unrighteous who taketh vengeance? (I speak as a man)
6 God forbid: for then how shall God judge the world?
Exodus 20:5 Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God [am] a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth [generation] of them that hate me;
Hebrews 6:20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, [even] Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.
Hebrews 7:2-3
2 To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by interpretation King of righteousness, and after that also King of Salem, which is, King of peace;
3 Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God; abideth a priest continually.