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Wednesday January 22 - Being perfect
“If you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? ...Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”
Matthew 5:47-48
We tend to hang around with people who we are familiar with. This is a normal human trait. We love our comfort zones; we feel safe and unchallenged there. Yet Jesus calls us out to do more. Let’s face it, if we don’t, how on earth is the world going to be evangelised? When I was a younger Christian, God challenged me to take care of a homeless man – to feed him, offer him our bathroom facilities and take him to a Billy Graham stadium event. This was, frankly, very difficult for me, but I did it. I had no idea if this man ever came through into the Kingdom, but I like to think that I played a small part in his story.
God wants us to be perfect. What does this actually mean? I think that it means that he sets the plumbline, the standard that we should aspire to. It’s not easy; it is not meant to be. We are called to be stretched, to ‘go the extra mile’ – a phrase taken from the previous passage in Matthew, yet one we often encounter in popular culture. Colossians 3:23 tells us, ‘Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters...’ It is always well for us to remember which kingdom we live in and represent.
Father in heaven, please help me always to be welcoming to others. Amen.
Thursday January 23 - Be real
“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others... If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.” Matthew 6:1
God wants us to be real, authentic and sincere. Unfortunately, some of us let the side down by parading in front of everyone, determined to show our goodness, as if it is all down to our own efforts. This is just self-righteousness and it’s certainly not what God wants from us. ‘All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags...’ (Isaiah 64:6). We know this happens because it has become a Christian stereotype in the media – the self-righteous Christian. TV ‘soaps’ are awash with them. You may remember Dot Cotton from ‘Eastenders’ and Mrs Mangel from the Aussie soap ‘Neighbours’ – nosy, interfering and self-regarding ‘Christians’. This is how the world often sees us; it is about time we bucked the trend.
We do ourselves no favours at all by flaunting our good deeds. The world can see through us and is not impressed. Even more importantly, neither is God impressed. If we think he is going to thank us or reward us then we must think again – there will be “no reward from your Father in heaven.” The kingdom of heaven is where we allow ourselves to be transformed into Christ’s likeness (2 Corinthians 3:18). May we centre everything on him, rather than concentrating our efforts on building up ourselves – and then we will become far better citizens.
Father in heaven, please help me not to flaunt my good deeds and think too much of myself. Amen.
PRAYER FOR TODAY
PRAYER FOR TODAY
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