This morning I was reading in Matthew. Specifically, I was reading Matthew 11: 2-19. What stood out to me this time when I read this passage was how Jesus pointed out that sinners would criticize John when he was living for God better than anyone else. Isn’t that just like us to judge and criticize others when what we really need to do is take a long hard look at ourselves!
The sinners did not want to change their lives so they justified what they were doing and then criticized John, and eventually Jesus.
It’s sad. And what is even sadder, is that it’s still so prevalent today. How many times have you justified or excused something you’ve done knowing that it wasn’t glorifying God. Sometimes we hold onto to that one sin we struggle with….afraid to let it go…..afraid to find out what it would really be like to live without it. To me, that is a sign of not fully trusting God. It means our heart is focused more on ourselves than on God.
What we should be afraid of, is what our lives will be like if we don’t let our sins go. Give your sin to God. Our lives would be so abundant if we put everything we have into following Jesus. Instead, many of us, put everything we have into justifying our sinful behavior, no matter the degree.
I think we have to look at where that gets us, what good is that doing in our lives. Hanging onto sinful behavior may feel good for you, it may be “instant” gratification, it may be comfortable, but I can promise you in the eyes of God, it’s not truly good for you. He has so much more in store for you that blows away any instant gratification you could imagine.
After I read these verses in Matthew I read my Study Bible notes and this is what it says about verses 11:16-19. “Too often we justify our inconsistencies because listening to God may require us to change the way we live”.
Amen! It WILL require us to change the way we live, but in doing so we gain so much more.