30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 11 37-54 Repenting from hypocrisy Woe 8
📖 Luke 11:37-54
*Righteousness before God is by faith* _Luke 11:37-54_
Our Lord was confronting the Pharisees and the religious leaders by addressing issues in their life, which they were blinded about. Our Lord loved them and longed for them to repent and turn to Him but repentance and turning to God was the never in their heart and mind. They considered themselves righteous and it was sinners, who needed repentance _Luke 11:42. Friends, do we see how easily we too can become pharisaical, if we are not open to God’s correction?_
What do we understand about the matters related to tithing of mint and rue and all manner of herbs? All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, was the LORD's. It was holy to the LORD _Leviticus 27:30._ People were to bring in their tithe and offering of all the grain and wine, oil and honey, of all the produce of field also of oxen and sheep, to the temple. This was brought to the Lord and to His temple but it was to meet the need of the Priests and Levites, who served in the worship of God _II Chronicles 31:5-10/Nehemiah 10:37._
Our Lord confronted the Pharisees that they were so meticulous about tithing of every little thing but overlooked the weightier matters that God was concerned about _Matthew 23:23._ To the religious leaders, these matters of tithing of mint, anise and cumin became their bench mark of their righteousness before God. Tithing and other such external rituals and activities that they did became their doctrine and they sought to earn the favour of God and approval of people by doing them_Luke 18:11-12._
God longed that they would have a relationship with Him. _God longs to have a relationship with us._ A relationship that is built on trust, on faith, on belief in Him and live a life of surrendering our will to Him, willingly. This is what the religious leaders ignored.
When the Lord confronted them on this matter, they could have repented, but they chose to become more entrenched in their opinion.
*Thought to ponder*
```Will we always have a heart of openness before God for His correction?```