With a Subtitle: Lay your true intentions at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Repent of any false motives that may be compelling you today.

A brief Excerpt: Lay your true intentions at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Repent of any false motives that may be compelling you today.

The Author is: Rich Holt

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Luke 13:1, “Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.”

Background

Part of the training for parenthood should include instructions on how to be a detective. More and more I’m finding myself trying to find and analyze clues involving my kids’ actions, attitudes, conversation and moods, rather than getting from them straight-forward or detailed explanations into the mystery at hand. Often I’ve had to recreate the events leading up to an incident that somehow no one knows anything about or had anything to do with, just so I can figure out what magically happened. Mood swings and comments from left field must be broken down and scrutinized, sometimes in a matter of seconds, to try and understand who this apparent alien is who is standing right in front of me. Even the hourly occasion of someone reporting on another’s actions has to be evaluated as to the real intent of why they are telling on their sibling.

Application

Jesus certainly had to scratch beneath the surface on more than one occasion to get at what was really intended from those He encountered, like in this instance where some people told Him about Pilate slaughtering the Galileans while they offered their sacrifices. Those sharing the story could have gotten a news alert on their app and simply wanted to make sure Jesus was aware of what was going on. Or they might have been mentioning it as a prayer request for the families of those who perished. Perhaps. But Jesus seems to have come to a different conclusion. He seems to think that they are casting judgment on Pilate and his men as more evil and destitute because of what they did to those worshippers. Jesus had been casting warnings out to his listeners, and some of them were ready for Him to warn against somebody else, somebody bad enough to kill innocent people while they offered to God. Their real intent was self-redemption, a little elevation above others who were worse than them. But even their true intent reveals their depravity. And ours. It’s a mystery why we do what we do sometimes, isn’t it. Or is it?

Charge

As we seek Him today, lay your true intentions at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ. Repent of any false motives that may be compelling you today.

Salvation – Eternal Life in Less Than 150 Words