Today’s Podcast
Today’s Bible reading plan:
Read it in a year – Joshua 6-10
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 5:23-26
Jesus: Therefore, if you are bringing an offering to God and you remember that your brother is angry at you or holds a grudge against you, then leave your gift before the altar, go to your brother, repent and forgive one another, be reconciled, and then return to the altar to offer your gift to God.
If someone sues you, settle things with him quickly. Talk to him as you are walking to court; otherwise, he may turn matters over to the judge, and the judge may turn you over to an officer, and you may land in jail. I tell you this: you will not emerge from prison until you have paid your last penny.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Ouch! It’s one thing for Jesus to tell me to stop begin angry at someone else for something they have done against me, but man, is it hard to go ask forgiveness from someone that’s angry with me. Especially, if I think I’m right. I mean, really? What is Jesus thinking? Why do I need to make things right when the other guy is the one with the anger issue? Why should I put myself in a situation where he might boil over and test my faith with that turn the other cheek rule?
And Jesus says to do that before I bring my offering to God. Here I am about to do something good for God, about to give Him my best, and He wants me to go make it right with someone who is angry with me first. Why?
God is a God of love. In fact, He is love. We learn to love because He plants the seed of love in our hearts before we know Him. He puts it there and shows us an imperfect kind of love through the relationships we have with others. So when there is something between one of our fellowman and us, how can we have a loving relationship with God?
Paul reminds us that we cannot love God who we cannot see if we don’t love our brothers and sister who we see. The early teachers of Christ’s message understood clearly that our relationship with our fellow humankind reflects our relationship with our heavenly father. If that reflection is marred by anger or envy or name the other negative emotions that might pop up, then our message to our brothers and sisters is marred and we cannot go to God with a pure heart and a clean offering.
Jesus will later tell the Pharisees, it’s not what people see on the outside that makes a person clean, but what’s on the inside. He called them white-washed tombstones. They looked good on the outside, but their hearts lacked love for their fellow man. They knew others held something against them, but their pride kept them from getting out of what they thought were positions of authority and making their relationships right before they came to the altar.
Have you ever thought about how much easier it would be to come to God if you knew nothing stood between you and your neighbor? If those ills were forgiven by your earthly neighbor, if your relationships here stood on solid ground with nothing between you and another person, don’t you think it would be easier to lift a prayer of repentance to God? Don’t you think it would be easier to come into His presence if you know nothing needs forgiveness between you and your brothers and sisters when you enter His presence?
This might be a poor example, but think about going to the bank for a loan. If you owe fifteen people money, the bank will think hard before extending more credit to you. But if you have paid your bills on time, owe nothing to your creditors, have a steady income, and go to those same lenders, they willingly extend credit to you. But until those smaller debts are paid, the bank is unwilling to give you a large loan. Should I expect God to accept my offering when I’m out of sorts with others? I’m like that guy trying to borrow money with lots of debt out there. I need to get those debts paid off before I come to God.
That’s a really poor analogy, but I hope you get the point. God wants us to keep our relationships up to date. He wants us to make every effort to ask forgiveness from those who have something against us – whether we’re right or wrong in the dispute. You see, relationships are not about right and wrong. It’s about loving people. Jesus loved the woman at the well. He did not agree with her behavior, though. He loved the rich young ruler, but He saw through the young man’s love of money and the young man went away filled with sorrow.
So, we’re back to Jesus’ words. “…if you are bringing an offering to God and you remember that your brother is angry at you or holds a grudge against you, then leave your gift before the altar, go to your brother, repent and forgive one another, be reconciled, and then return to the altar to offer your gift to God.”
When you come back and offer your gift, you’ll be surprised at the difference in your disposition and the blessings God will pour out on you when you do.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.