Wednesday, February 17

Read Luke 13:23-30.

"Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able" (v. 24).

Perhaps the person who asked Jesus, "Are there few that be saved?" had heard Jesus' teaching that the Kingdom of Heaven was found in small things. Maybe he was present when Jesus rebuked the leaders of the synagogue for trying to keep him from healing on the Sabbath. He probably had accepted the idea that the Pharisees, with their outward displays of holiness, were the ones who had the way to Heaven figured out, but Jesus showed this view to be false.

Jesus isn't warning people who were considered to be sinners.  To them, he regularly offered mercy and forgiveness. However, He was talking to the religious leaders of His day when He said that many will not be able to enter through the door and gain salvation.  He is also talking to us, the ones who read and write devotionals. We are standing squarely in the  path of his words.

The question for all of is this: have we begun to become like the Pharisees? Are we looking down on sinners? Are we proud of our own righteousness? The Prophet Isaiah reminds us that God doesn't break a bruised reed. Instead, throughout the Bible, we see that God is against those who are proud.  We should examine our hearts to see if pride has taken root and do whatever it takes to dig it out. (Randy Joe Bland)

 

Has pride taken root in your heart?