Keeping Holy Things Holy

Today's Reading:  Psalm 31 & Matthew 7

 

Scripture:

"Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you into pieces. 

 

Observation:

People can tear a person down faster than anything else.  They can inflict wounds in a person that go deeper than any other weapon.  In moments of hurt, betrayal, persecution or false accusation faith can dry up and God can seem quite distant. 

 

This passage today offers me three reminders regarding some holy things I throw away to people intent on tearing me down.

 

Application:

The first Holy thing that I throw away are my choices.  Peer pressure never goes away.  The world has a tendency to treat this like a plague that only affects teenagers and college students but it is not true.  Actually, I think that peer pressure get worse as I get older.  Matthew 7:14 offers a simple reminder that the popular opinion of people is not the path that leads towards God.  The way to Him is narrow.  The way to Him leads me to swim against the currents of the culture.  I must guard against giving myself away to pressure to conform.

 

The second Holy thing I throw away is my peace.  People are broken.  They are bent and do some nasty things.  I carry wounds today which were inflicted by others that seem to stubbornly refuse to heal.  Hurtful words.  Betrayals.  Defamations.  My self-image is littered with trash dumped on me by others.  Matthew 7:1 reminds me that manner in which I judge, I will be judged.  As tempting as it is, as justified as it might me, there is no benefit is casting judgment on another person.  I must learn to release these things to God and allow Him to take his rightful place as judge.

 

The third Holy thing I throw away is my ambition.  Matthew 7:7 lays out three commands; ask, seek, & knock.  In the Greek, these are present imperative commands which means they can be read as saying, "keep on asking, seeking, and knocking".  Many times disappointments in life cause me to stop asking, stop seeking and stop knocking.  I must refuse to allow my pursuit of God to be halted by the work of others. 

 

Prayer:

Father, as I sit this morning and think forward to the day ahead of me I am overwhelmed by just how frail I am.  One carefully calculated word from a person can send my entire day into a tailspin.  In a split second I can go from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the valley. 

 

I need You to be my strength.  I put my trust in You today and say that You are my God.  My life is in Your hands.  Deliver me from the plans of my enemy and allow Your face to shine upon me.  Help me to take courage today not in my own abilities, but in Yours.