“Come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden,” Matthew 11:28 Weary – Worn out! More than just the end of the day, dragging in from the job. This word (from kopiao) means to be so burdened with labor that you are exhausted. It should remind us of Isaiah 40:31 where the Hebrew word,…
“This man casts out demons only by Beelzebul, the ruler of demons.” Matthew 12:24 Only – How do you recognize the power of God? How do you know when something is God’s handiwork? The religious leaders of Jesus’ day thought they knew the answer to this question. They believed that God acted according to their…
“but I say to you who hear, love your enemies” Luke 6:27 Who hear – Do you suppose that we really hear what Jesus is saying in this sentence? Oh, I’m sure we hear the words, but I am just as sure that we are deaf to what they really mean. Jesus addressed those within…
“no one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6 Through – A Christian is called to intolerance. Oh, I know how uncomfortable that makes us feel. We live in a culture where accommodation and tolerance is the expected social norm. Our leaders want to “reach out” to other faiths. Celebrities and advertisers portray…
“You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish” Matthew 23:26 Blind – “What’s the matter with you? Are you blind or something?” When we hurl this comment at someone, they are never physically blind (it would be too embarrassing for us if they were). What we mean is that…
“For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.” Matthew 23:25 Robbery – When we confront our hypocrisy, we begin to understand why Jesus speaks about robbery in parallel with self-indulgence. We are likely to dismiss this connection. After all, we don’t steal…
“For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence.” Matthew 23:25 Self-indulgence – I don’t like to think of myself as a hypocrite, especially the kind that Jesus names in this curse. But the truth is that I am. God knows it and…
“For this reason I say to you, do not be anxious for your life” Matthew 6:25 For – We’ve all considered the thought of Jesus about anxiety. We’ve all pondered the depth of his command. And we’ve all come up short on the application. In spite of every good intention, we find ourselves anxious about…
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” Proverbs 1:7 Beginning – What is the first step toward living the best life possible? I’ll give you twenty seconds to think of your answer (you really do have twenty seconds to answer one of the most important questions in life, don’t you?). The Bible…
“To understand a proverb and a figure, the words of the wise and their riddles.” Proverbs 1:6 Riddle – If God wants to communicate with men, why does He speak in riddles? That’s the question we must ask when we read this opening thought in the book of Proverbs. God is anxious to teach men…
