Thermometers are extremely useful. They can tell us if our coughing and sneezing are the result of springtime pollen or a real cold. They tell cooks just how hot to make the oven or if we should take a coat to work today. They are very useful when boiling maple sap alerting the boiler when to take the pan off the stove. As humans we seem almost obsessed with measuring things. Most homes have a door jamb with marks and dates heralding milestones in our children’s growth.
Jesus had a measuring device to apply to you and me. He said, “Hereby shall men know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” He also said, “By their works ye shall know them.” Jesus wasn’t much of a fan of people that professed one thing and lived another. Matthew 23 is a manifest of His displeasure with the religious establishment in Jerusalem. In Matthew 23 He is not gentle Jesus meek and mild. He really went after them with scathing language. “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.”
What is wonderful about Jesus’ measurement of us is we are not on our own. He promised to send His Spirit to dwell within us. The Spirit will empower us to see the needs around us, help us figure out how to touch those needs and grant us the resources to do something meaningful.
Written by Roger Bothwell on May 14, 2015
PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574
rogerbothwell.org