Your Cozy Rut

~~~ Romans 2:1-11 ~~~ Psalm 62 ~~~ Luke 11:42-46 ~~~

Woe to you Pharisees!

Jesus leaves out no one...not the Pharisees, 

the scribes or the scripture scholars.

Nor does he leave us out either.

He addresses us with these same words of Woe.

We often take our spiritual life for granted...

becoming complacent with our own rituals and devotions.

I met a person who would not attend a retreat

because it would interfere with her

morning prayer practices.

She could not see the benefit of coming away by herself

to spend time with God.

She had convinced herself that what she 

was doing was all that she needed.

Perhaps she was also patting herself 

on the back because of her morning rituals.

The Pharisees and the scholars were very proud

of their position, knowledge, perceived wisdom,

and even their holiness.

They were living by their own standards...

not the standards of God.

Jesus goes out of his way to touch the lives of those he meets.

He models every day what it means to do good works.

The critics of the day had their heads 

buried in their rules and regulations.

They were looking for those not keeping the rules and laws.

They ignored those who followed the rules and the laws.

You are like unseen graves over which 

people unknowingly walk.

They took away the human love and compassion.

All that mattered to them was the prescribed laws.

Sometimes I ask if we have not done the same.

Have we gotten into a rut

 by going through the motions 

of being a good person?

Do we prefer to 'play it safe'?

Doing what we have always done;

letting the autopilot button of our life be in charge.

There is no partiality with God.

Jesus opened the gates of heaven to all.

It does not matter if you are a scholar

 or the homeless man begging on the next corner.

Jesus tries to coax us out of our rut,

and when coaxing does not work

 he tries a more direct technique.

Jesus was being very direct with the Pharisees

 and the scholars, but most of them buried themselves

 deeper into their cozy rut.

Not even nature is allowed to stay in a rut.

Maybe that is why God gave us the four seasons in a year.

If you stay in your self indulgent rut it is very unlikely 

that you will advance in your relationship with God.

...there will be glory, honor, and peace for everyone

who does good...

It will be better for you if you 

take the necessary steps to climb out of 

your rut yourself.

Search for your rut...examine it carefully...

climb out...change is possible.

You do not need to be defined by your personal rut.

This is exactly what happened to the Pharisees, scribes,

and the legal scholars of the time.

Follow Jesus...

he is not in the rut...

he is both constant and ever changing.

Woe to you...

Blessings to get out of the rut;

however long it may take.

~~~Peace~~~

The 'Key' is in Your Heart

~~~ Romans 3:21-30 ~~~ Psalm 130 ~~~ Luke 11:47-54 ~~~

 

Woe to you, scholars of the law!
You have taken away the key of knowledge.
You yourselves did not enter and you stopped those trying to enter.

 

These sharp words from Jesus directed toward the lawyers

strengthens their conviction to do away with him even more.

Now it becomes critical for them to get rid of him any way possible.

 

These scholars have concealed the key by continuously

imposing more and more restrictions on the people.

 

When you have a key you also have something that is

or can be locked up.

Kept in secret....kept for a later date...

 

They have taken the key of knowledge.

They themselves have not used this key to access the true knowledge.

Instead of teaching the truth they have made their own version.

They do not want the people to have access to the truth.

They themselves do not really want to have the knowledge.

 

Jesus gave Peter the keys to the kingdom of heaven.

Keys represent authority in the Bible. Today we symbolically give

a new mayor the keys of the city.

 

Keys are unique...

A specific key fits into a corresponding lock.

Why would you keep in your possession a key

that you never intend to use?

 

Why would you feel the need to remove the key from others?

The key of knowledge must have deep significance.

 

 

These scholars had the responsibility

to lead the people toward holiness.

Instead they got caught up in their own grandeur.

 

When you have the key of knowledge

you can open up the meaning of God's words.

You then have a better chance of reaching your eternal home.

 

These learned men were worried.

How could they hold on to their esteemed position in society

if people knew the real truths?

 If the people were able to understand the ways of God

they might no longer need these so called scholars.

 

The people might come to a realization that the key

to knowledge was simple...

it was love.

 

From the very beginning God told Adam and Eve

 not to eat of the tree of good and evil.

This was symbolic of the tree of knowledge.

Gaining knowledge was more than they could resist.

 

The scholars were more motivated by fear

and pride than knowledge.

They were fearful of learning the truth themselves

so they kept the key,

but never unlocked the treasure of the truth.

 

They were corrupted with pride;

 convincing themselves that they had all of the answers.

They saw no reason to use the key of knowledge.

Lack of knowledge was one tool used to control the people;

until it came to Jesus.

 

Jesus had all of the knowledge...he was the key.

Nothing they said or did could control Jesus.

 They could not stop him from his salvation mission.

 

You do not look for something you believe to be already

 in your possession.

A very dangerous place to linger;

we are either moving toward God or away from God.

There is no such thing as static with God.

 

Jesus is the key of knowledge.

He tells us to take up our cross and follow him.

He tells us to love one another as ourselves.

He tells us to know, love and serve him with our whole

body, mind, heart, and soul. 

 

Blessings come from trusting in the knowledge

that you are loved by Jesus.

  He will not take away the key of knowledge.

He invites you to enter and gain knowledge of him.