Choosing my focus will lighten my load and allow my life to flourish
By Dean Collins
Any one of the Pharisees probably thought they could have done a better job with training the disciples. Jesus didn’t seem to take a rigid approach like the Pharisees. Jesus and his disciples didn’t pick their dinner parties very well, either. Clearly, in Discipleship 101 these guys should have learned that who you eat with is as important as what you eat. They also often failed to wash properly and apparently sometimes forgot to pack a lunch even when approaching the Sabbath day.
Maybe it was the teachings on getting proper rest that threw them off their game when Sabbath arrived this particular week. There they were walking through the grain fields plucking the heads of grain and eating them like popcorn. The Pharisees didn’t wait long to let Jesus know this was a violation of their understanding of the Law. Jesus quickly responded that for all their attention to the Law including their long list of additional clarifications they insisted everyone follow, the Pharisees actually didn’t have some of the facts right.
Compliance over compassion
It wasn’t that Jesus didn’t know the Law or follow it. In an earlier teaching session, he had already covered that topic. The problem the Pharisees had was they were more about compliance than compassion. Focus on the regulations will often lead you to dismiss or miss the relationships God offers.
Seems to me that those of us who have decided to follow Jesus sometimes forget who we are following and default to the rules and regulations. Yes, the Scripture is true and reliable and filled with specifics that guide and shape our conduct and lead to communion with God and community with each other. The problem we have is that as sinners we always fall short of adherence to God’s commands.
Those of us who have decided to follow Jesus sometimes forget who we are following
and default to the rules and regulations.
We bow in gratitude for the forgiveness, grace, and mercy that flows to us from the cross of Calvary. Unfortunately without daily surrender to practice the grace and mercy of Jesus, we can easily slip into patterns of behavior that make us spiritual “hall monitors” whose job is to make sure the other believers are following our understanding of Scripture and living by our set of rules. It’s really easy to think our biases and preferences aren’t really bias or preference and that they actually are equal to God’s Word. That was certainly part of the Pharisees’ problem.
Rules over people
The other problem the Pharisees had was to think that God cared about the rules more than the person. Specifically, the heart of each person. I am especially glad I am not the person who is in charge of the rules. Jesus basically said that everything flows from our hearts. He also said good trees bear good fruit.
Wise King Solomon said proper evaluation and assessment and even judgment is in God’s bag and not ours. What seems clear is that I need to focus on the condition of my heart more than yours and focus on my relationship with God each day. When I do, I’m much more likely to produce good fruit. And when I don’t, there’s a good chance something might just be rotting or dying instead of growing and flourishing.
If you find yourself trying to keep the balance of mercy and justice for someone else, then you probably picked up God’s bag of weights. So go ahead and give them back. Then focus on your own heart and behavior before you even attempt to help another.
Your time with God’sWord
Matthew 12:1-8, 33-37; Proverbs 16:11 ESV
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