Devo Luke 11

39 Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of
the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. 40 You foolish
people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? 41 But now
as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for
you. 42 “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue
and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.
You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. 43 “Woe
to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues
and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. 44 “Woe to you, because you are
like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” 45 One of the
experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult
us also.” 46 Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you
load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not
lift one finger to help them. 47 “Woe to you, because you build tombs for the
prophets, and it was your ancestors who killed them. 48 So you testify that you
approve of what your ancestors did; they killed the prophets, and you build their
tombs. 49 Because of this, God in his wisdom said, ‘I will send them prophets and
apostles, some of whom they will kill and others they will persecute.’ 50 Therefore
this generation will be held responsible for the blood of all the prophets that has
been shed since the beginning of the world, 51 from the blood of Abel to the
blood of Zechariah, who was killed between the altar and the sanctuary. Yes, I tell
you, this generation will be held responsible for it all. 52 “Woe to you experts in
the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have
not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.”


Meditation:
1. When eating at the home of a Pharisee, Jesus identified six common sins of
the “religious” of his day that kept them from seeing the light. The Pharisees
and experts in the law were furious and attacked Jesus. Reading these verses
should not cause us to criticize the Pharisee then. Rather, they should draw
us to examine ourselves.
2. With a humble heart, go through the following questions and ask: “God, do
I……?”
• Do I spend more time trying to look holy, or seeking to be holy? (vv39-
41)
• Do my priorities reflect God’s? (v42)
• Do I treasure the approval of others, or the approval of God? (vv43-44)
• Do I make living a Christian life harder for people by my expectations,
or do I encourage and help them? (v46)
• Do I resist God’s word brought by his ministers, or am I open and
teachable? (vv47-51)


Personal Note:
Being a pastor or spiritual leader can cause me to become a Pharisee (who attack Jesus and being a hypocrite).  It is very easy to stumble into this trap when I do not examine myself.


Seeking to be holy is reflected by the way I live, God's priority is for us to cultivate a deep relationship with Him and do the work of sharing the good news of His kingdom, I am to treasure the approval of God, I seek to encourage and help others to live a faithful Christian life, and I am open and teachable to my fellow brothers and sisters.