For a full description of the (Y3) reading plan, see the “About” page.
- What attributes of God’s character does this passage reveal?
- How does the passage point to Jesus?
- How should the truth of this passage change me?
- How do the events of today’s reading help you better understand the grand narrative of Scripture?
Matt. 15
Putting God first doesn’t always look like putting God first. I think about what I wrote a couple days ago after reading about the feeding of the 5000. Jesus was trying to get alone to spend time with His Father in prayer. The crowds, however, had other ideas. Yet Jesus didn’t get mad at the crowds or send them away so He could ‘put God first’. In that situation, Jesus put God first by having compassion on the people, passing God’s love, mercy, and healing on to them. We see the opposite with the scribes and Pharisees. They used honoring God as an excuse to not do right by others. They weren’t putting God first in that behavior; they were putting themselves first.
As Jesus went on to indicate, it is not our external actions themselves that honor God. It is our attitude and the condition of our heart. When we get the attitude part right, God’s character can then flow through us to others. That is how we put God first. We let His character prevail in us over our own.
Mark 7
I had to laugh at Mark’s comment after Jesus healed the deaf mute. Mark said Jesus, “ordered them to tell no one, but the more He ordered them, the more they proclaimed it.” (Mk. 7:36). How very human! Tell us to do something and we avoid it like the plague. Tell us not to do something, however, and we see that as an open invitation!
I’ve got to admit, though, going from deaf and mute to hearing and speaking would be a very difficult thing to keep quiet about. Quite, literally, actually. For one thing, anybody that knew you would have a hard time not noticing it. For another, it would be such a life change, how could you not be bubbling over with excitement about it? Jesus has done so much more for us than open our ears and loosen our tongues. Shouldn’t people notice that in us? And shouldn’t we have a hard time keeping our excitement about it under wraps?