Don Fredenburg
Jim Tucker
H.E. 'Hub' Bowen
Mike Coble
Ron Bowen2/21/2018
"Don't give holy things to dogs. They will only turn and
hurt you. And don't throw your pearls to pigs. They will only step on
them."
— Matthew 7:6
KEY THOUGHT: Wow! Jesus uses really strong language here. At first, he seems to be breaking the very command that he just gave about being non-judgmental. But instead, Jesus is reminding us that being non-judgmental does not mean we are undiscerning, wasteful, and silly. We are to recognize that there are some people so hardened to receiving the message that they will not listen; we are to quit wasting our time in trying to convince them. He chooses the powerful imagery of a well-known proverb to make his point. He says similar things in a softer way elsewhere. The bottom line, however, is that there comes a time when we realize that people will not hear the Gospel message. Their repeated determination not to hear and their unwillingness to respond don't mean we are to try harder, but simply to try elsewhere! Being a nonjudgmental person does not mean we refuse to "see the handwriting on the wall" and keep wasting our efforts on those who refuse to hear.
TODAY'S PRAYER: Father of all mercy, give me wisdom to know when you have opened a door for me to reach out to my friends, family and neighbors, and when to move on to others. I don't want to give up too quickly on those who might respond, but neither do I want to simply try to be more hardheaded than those refusing to hear and further annoy them by continuing to try. Please lead me to those who are ready to hear of your grace. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
TODAY'S VERSE IN CONTEXT: "Don't judge other people, and God will not judge you. If you judge other people, you will be judged in the same way you judge them. And the way you give to other people will be the way God gives to you. "Why do you notice the small piece of dust that is in your brother's eye, but you don't notice the big piece of wood that is in your own eye? Why do you say to your brother, 'Let me take that little piece of dust out of your eye'? Look at yourself first! You still have that big piece of wood in your own eye. You are a hypocrite. First, take the wood out of your own eye. Then you will see clearly to take the dust out of your brother's eye. "Don't give holy things to dogs. They will only turn and hurt you. And don't throw your pearls to pigs. They will only step on them. "Continue to ask, and God will give to you. Continue to search, and you will find. Continue to knock, and the door will open for you. Yes, if a person continues asking, that person will receive. If a person continues looking, that person will find. And if a person continues knocking, the door will open for that person. "Do any of you have a son? If your son asked for bread, would you give him a rock? No! Or if your son asked for a fish, would you give him a snake? No! {You are not like God}—you are evil. But you know how to give good things to your children. So surely your heavenly Father will give good things to those people that ask him. "Do to other people the same things you want them to do to you. This is the meaning of the law {of Moses} and the {teaching of the} prophets.
Matthew 7:1-12
RELATED SCRIPTURE: "When you enter a city or town, find some worthy person there and stay in his home until you leave. When you enter that home say, 'Peace be with you.' If the people in that home welcome you, then they are worthy of your peace. May they have the peace you wished them. But if the people don't welcome you, then they are not worthy of your peace. Take back the peace you wished for them. And if a home or town refuses to welcome you or listen to you, then leave that place. Shake their dust off your feet. I tell you the truth. On the judgment day it will be worse for that town than for the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah.
Matthew 10:11-15
What Jesus Did! is written by Phil Ware.
Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center.
All rights reserved.
