Seven

Have you noticed any planks in your eyes lately? Well, if not planks, then how about some small blocks of wood? Or a few tiny pieces of off-cuts from your garage floor? Any Sawdust?

"Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." - Matthew 7:3-5

Lent teaches us to look inward at our personal journey with Jesus and to ask ourselves the honest (but hard) questions. 

Do I notice the sin in the lives of others very quickly and then leniently overlook my own sins?
What could "the plank" represent in my own life?
Am I fairly judging those around me?

“Judging others makes us blind, whereas love is illuminating. By judging others we blind ourselves to our own evil and to the grace which others are just as entitled to as we are.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Living in Grace
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Self-reflection

Our world has fast fallen into a place where we enjoy elevating the sins and faults of others, most especially on social media. Sadly, us Christians have also taken up this practise in a mistaken claim of piety. However, I think it has more to do with us feeling 'better' about our own sins when we can point out the 'worse' sins in our neighbour. This is purely deflective behaviour - if I can cause enough noise on this issue, it will distract you from noticing my true faults and shortcomings.

Thomas a Kempis wrote clearly on this issue:

"Turn your attention upon yourself and beware of judging the deeds of other men, for in judging others a man labours vainly, often makes mistakes, and easily sins; whereas, in judging and taking stock of himself he does something that is always profitable."

In my words - We should all practise more self-reflection! This is what will change and transform our lives.

Living in Grace
D3LM3

Which measure?

When Jesus was teaching on the Mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee he said these words:

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." - Matthew 7:1

The part about the 'measure' always seem to allude me until I understood that certain Rabbi's spoke of two different 'measures' for judgement. The first one was the measure of Justice, while the second one was the measure of Mercy.

If we keep judging people with the measure of Justice, then that is the one God will use on us, but if we use Mercy, then that is the one God will use on us. That seems to make a lot of sense. The trick is now trying to make sure that we use the right measure when we look at other people.

Which measure do you usually revert too?

Living in Grace

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The right measure - Lent 7

 

Our friend Ezekiel is really giving the people of God a huge wake up call with his messages, isn't he? Chapter 7 continues along this very harsh and depressing route, but I managed to find some interesting verses towards the end of today's chapter. Ezekiel speaks:

Calamity upon calamity will come,
    and rumour upon rumour.
They will go searching for a vision from the prophet,
    priestly instruction in the law will cease,
    the counsel of the elders will come to an end. (v.26)

What immediately came to mind is how sad it must have been that God withdrew his presence and 'voice' from his people. It seems a hard thing to do, but the people were not listening in any case, so God silenced the prophets, withheld inspiration from the priests and stopped the counsel of the elders. The people were left to their own means, which is what they had in effect chosen for themselves.

This leads us to reflect on how blessed we are to live in places where we are able to read the Word out in public meetings, worship services and small groups. There are some places in the world, where there is still massive persecution for anyone who claims to be a Christian. 
So let us give thanks for this privilege today.
 
²⁷ The king will mourn,
    the prince will be clothed with despair,
    and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their conduct,
    and by their own standards I will judge them.

“‘Then they will know that I am the Lord.’”

This last verse of today's chapter sounds a lot like Jesus' words in the Gospel of Matthew, where he challenged his disciples about judging other people.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. ² For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.

Lent is a time of reflection and honest appraisal of who we are in the light of Christ. Let us be wary of judging others, as the measure we use will be used to judge us too.

Living in Grace

D3LM3

Watch out for the mule!

›   

 

“A mule dressed in a tuxedo is still a mule.”-Traditional saying.

   Our society is so focused on the 'visual' that we seldom take time to get to know the true

   character of other people. We can make quick judgements of others and then live to regret those  snap

   decisions. 

     The saying above, also reminds me that sometimes people try to disguise who they truly are, but in the

     end their true character still shines through. Of course this doesn't mean that 'mules' can't be changed

    through the grace of Christ, but we should exercise caution when only noticing  the outward

    appearance of people.

1 Samuel 16:7 - But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Living in Grace

D3LM3

 

Judge me - Lent 7

The issue of judgement is a hot topic at the moment, especially surrounding the Oscar Pistorius case. I will reserve my comments on the matter for another day, but in today's Psalm David makes a strange request. He asks God to judge the people and then to judge himself.

"Let the assembled people gather around you. Rule over them from on high; 
let the Lord judge the peoples.
Judge me, O Lord,
according to my righteousness,
according to my integrity,
O most high." - Psalm 7:7-8

That's a bold prayer to pray.

"Judge me, O Lord. See if there are any offensive things in my life. Help me to be right and holy in your sight."

Would you be willing to pray that prayer?

"Failure is not a single, cataclysmic event. You don't fail overnight. Instead, failure is a few errors in judgement, repeated every day. " - Jim Rohn

Living in Grace
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When people let you down

What do you do when people let you down? Do you get angry with them? Do you show your disappointment? Do you lose faith in them?

It is hard to react with true perspective in situations like this, because we so often fail to remember the times we let others down. None of us is perfect and we will let others down too. All I try to do in these situations is to treat people with the same 'grace' I would hope they would offer to me. I think that's the Jesus way...

Matthew 7:1-2
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

Finding fault

Jesus had some challenging thoughts for his followers on the subject of judgement.

"Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye." - Matthew 7:1-5

Francois de la Rochefoucauld - "If we had no faults of our own, we would not take so much pleasure in noticing those of others."

May our judgement not be too quick!

Living in Grace,
D3LM3

By what criteria?

We often judge people using the wrong criteria. We usually start by looking at the outward things, the things that are most visible. I know that this is how the world operates, but this is not biblical. Read what 1 Samuel 16:7 says:

"The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart."

Be Blessed! Be Challenged! Be Encouraged!

Live in Grace,
D3LM3