The NT Challenge - Day 3

Matthew 5

This section of the Sermon on the Mount is just packed with practical living instruction and commands. It's interesting just how practical Christ was with his topic choices - not deep theological issues as much as the every day life issues that they faced (and we face too).

There were two small statements that were made within this chapter that really seemed to jump out at me:

Matt 5:19
Therefore whoever RELAXES one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever DOES them and TEACHES them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.

I thought it was very interesting that this version says "relaxes" one of the least of these commandments - not breaks / not bends / but relaxes. How often do we "relax" laws to fit our desires. We wouldn't say we are actually breaking them, that would be a sin. We wouldn't even say we are bending them, that would be too active. Christ knew that to hit at the heart of our problem, a verb choice like "relaxes" would really point to the heart of the issue. The word in Greek gives the same idea of loosening something, but still the word relax that the ESV chooses seems more fitting to what we sometimes actually do as believers.

The other section of this verse was just something that jumped out at me, maybe because the school year is getting ready to start, but I think it's interesting that the contrast between RELAXING the law and teaching others to do the same and DOING the law and teaching others to do the same. Sometimes I find that I will try to teach without trying to do - - that isn't the way the Lord intended. For all believers the order is set pretty clearly - you DO and then you TEACH.

Dear Lord,
Please help me to see your words and your commands as laws to be followed, not flexible items for me to bend or "relax" into what I want them to be. And as I have the opportunity to teach both in my classroom and in various ladies ministries, keep me ever mindful of the need to DO and then teach.


Matthew 6

This chapter mentions so many times how good actions with bad motives are not actually good actions. It is often hard not to do things in such a way that others will see you - sometimes I think that we don't even think about the fact that we ARE doing it for that reason; it has so become an ingrained part of our nature. We look at how others act and respond to them accordingly, so it would stand to reason that we need to consider the same when we act. However, that isn't God's way at all. God is concerned with the REAL me, the inside me, the me I am when no one else is around. That's a tough reminder, especially to someone who is a people-pleaser. Who am I aiming for - those walking the same journey as I am, or the Almighty Maker of Heaven and Earth? Easy question to ask - tough question to answer!

I did have one question that I've never noticed before in the Lord's prayer. I was always taught the ACTS way of praying (Adoration - Confession - Thanksgiving - Supplication) and that we have to get our sins out of the way before God will hear any other part of our prayer (besides the Adoration), but that doesn't seem to be the format of the Lord's Prayer. . . Hmmmmmm. . .



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