Tuesday Devo
Scripture Reading:
Luke 11:37-41
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
37 As Jesus was speaking, one of the Pharisees invited him home for a meal. So he went in and took his place at the table. 38 His host was amazed to see that he sat down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. 39 Then the Lord said to him, “You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! 40 Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? 41 So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.
Commentary from the ESV Study Bible:
11:39–41 you Pharisees cleanse. Keeping the traditions that they had added to Scripture was like cleansing the outside of the cup but leaving the inside … full of greed and wickedness; for “greed,” cf. Luke 16:14; 20:47. Those things that are within are the things in a person’s heart. If the believer first offers his heart to God, then everything is clean; that is, God will accept the good he does (“alms … that are within”) even if he does not follow the outward ceremonial washing required by Jewish traditions.
Study Questions:
- The second takeaway from Sunday was that the GOSPEL is INSIDE-out, not OUTSIDE-in. The pharisees were offended that Jesus did not perform the hand-washing ceremony. This ritual wasn't about cleanliness; it was an addition to law of God that was passed down through oral tradition. They elevated it to actual Law of God. You see, they were obsessed with outward show. Paul said pursuit of that outward display was like dung. And we like to compare, whose dung pile is bigger! We care a LOT about outside appearances.How concerned are you about the outward show and appearances? How do you know if you care too much about what man thinks?
- God looks past the outer appearance and sees straight to the heart. He knows our thoughts, motives, fears and insecurities. If we are truly going to change into someone that looks more and more like Jesus, it doesn't start with behavior. But, make no mistake, behaviors WILL change as our heart changes. You can think of it as a chicken or egg kind of thing. In this case, heart change comes first and good deeds will follow. True heart change leads to outward, behavioral change. Do you ever catch yourself thinking more about curbing your behavior rather than what is happening in your heart? Is there a heart adjustment that needs to be made in you?
Pray:
- That you wouldn't care what people think, only what God thinks.
- That you would daily ask God to search your heart and be ready to change.
This Week's City 7:
Try to commit to memory!
4. Can a person be good enough to go to heaven? No. Because Jesus rose from the dead proving He is God, I believe a person is saved by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
(John 1:12, 14:6; Acts 4:12; Romans 4:1-25, 5:1-2, 6-11, 6:23, 10:1-4, 10:9; Galatians 3:26; Ephesians 2:1-9; 1 Timothy 2:5-6; Titus 3:4-7)
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