Is He Talking To You?
Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples:
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites.” (Mt 23:13a)
It would be a shame, a real shame, if the words of Lord spoken so long ago to the crowds and His disciples were ever to be directed to us as well: “Woe to you, you hypocrites!”
However, truth be told, there are probably many times that we deserve to hear those words uttered against us.
We are hypocrites when we say that we believe in God’s love and yet refuse to share that love with others. We are hypocrites when we pray for justice for ourselves but refuse to extend justice to others. We are hypocrites when we say that we are all children of God yet, deep within, cut others out of our lives and believe that they, of course, cannot possibly belong to God.
We are hypocrites when we say that we believe in the Lord but live for ourselves instead of following the laws of the Lord.
We are not going to get to heaven on our own. There is no chance of that at all. We can only get there by the grace and mercy of God.
We are not going to get to heaven if we try to keep others out.
We are only going to get to heaven if we truly live as God’s children, in peace and harmony with one another, serving one another, looking out for the needs of all.
Would you like the Lord’s words to you when you see Him face to face to be, “Woe to you?” or would you rather prefer, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Live according to what you hope.
FAITH ACTION: Try not to be a hypocrite today.