Give It Up! Say No to Pharisaical Following

The Pharisees said to him, “Look, your disciples are doing what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:1-2)

Rules are good. I like rules. Rules help me function. If I had not long ago set up a set of rules governing how I disburse my paycheque to pay my bills and taxes, I would have quickly gone broke. Rules keep me safe; if there weren’t rules about how gas is handled at the gas pump, we could have a big problem.  Our society is based on making and keeping rules.  Some rules are for my spiritual benefit. A preacher told me a long time ago, “Spiritual food before physical food” and to this day, I typically don’t eat my breakfast until after a time of prayer and Bible reading.  But if I make that a rule that you have to follow, and judge you harshly if you do not, it becomes a problem. The Pharisees would have done well to follow their rule about not plucking heads of grain on the Sabbath, if they had not tried to make it something that others had to follow, or else. What examples can you think of from your own life?

Prayer – Father, thank you for the rules that help me through life. Forgive me when I make my own rules the basis for judging others.