And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
Luke 16:15
As a child of God we seek to please our Creator; not those who were created like us… Luke reminds us today that we can fool people as we seek to find justification in and through them; however, the heart from which your actions derive is what God takes note of… I know how hard it is to accept people not liking or accepting you; however, Luke brings our attention to the fact that the people we seek to please cannot get us to the Eternal Rest that we desire… As you journey through life, what is your objective each and every day? When you open your eyes and when you open the door to leave; what is your mind set on to accomplish… Are you striving to hear the words well done from your supervisor or your Father…? When you are faced with a choice and it will lead you to your divine destiny or away from it, which path do you choose…? Despite what people may want you to believe, pleasing God and obtaining His approval is all that matters…The question that aligns with this statement is do we really believe that… The answer to this question is not given verbally, but lies in our walk on this earth… It isn’t about what you say you’re about, it’s about what you display that you are about… Yes, you can be highly esteemed among men and yet find yourself being an abomination in the sight of God… There are a lot of us walking this earth that fit this description… We have completely strayed away from the path that God outlined for us; however, we believe that everything is under control because we are getting the proverbial pat on the back from our friends and colleagues…
There are so many people who are fooling themselves because they actually believe that they can fool God since they are able to fool others… Luke writes today about the difference between being men-pleasers and a pleaser of God… The Bible tells us that you cannot serve two masters and Luke reminds us today that when we are justified by men, our heart is known by God and it is indeed a (n) abomination to Him… This verse is recorded after Jesus has told the parable of the shrewd manager and how he tried to obtain stability through the debtors of his master by lowering their debts… We may not be engaging in evil like this manager; however, we often find ourselves (much like this manager Jesus speaks about) seeking approval of men at the detriment of our heavenly Master… After telling this story the Bible says that the Pharisees began to sneer at Jesus… At this, Jesus then uttered the words recorded here in the 15th verse… The Pharisees were a very vocal religious sector of Judaism that believed they were the most loyal to God… They were so caught up in themselves that they did not recognize who Jesus was or what He was here to do… Instead of seeking Jesus, they were the ones Jesus speaks about when He says, “they which justify yourselves before men…” We are challenged and tempted at just about every turn of life; however, we must stay the course in our faith and not deter… It’s so easy to get bogged down in being justified before men… We want to fit in, we want to be cool, we want to be seen in a certain light; however, we are reminded today that the light of God will never go out and that is the light that we must seek to shine upon us…
ALL FOR HIS GLORY!
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