With a Subtitle: Stop tracking all you do or don't do for Him. Ask Him what He wants you to do with Him.

A brief Excerpt: The Pharisee’s prayer in Luke 18:11-12 highlights our tendency to measure worth by actions and comparison. We should embrace God’s grace and love, recognizing our worth comes from Him.

The Author is: Rich Holt

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Luke 18:11-12, “The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men – extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess.'”

Background

How much is enough? If you’ve ever been around your grandma in the kitchen, you’ve probably wondered that very thing. How does she know how much to put in the bowl? Because she never measured anything, did she? It was always a little of this or a handful of that. Somehow she could feel that it was right, and the end product always bore that out, too. My grandma’s biscuits have yet to be equaled by any I have tasted. Now, our kids tend to ask this question for different reasons, don’t they? They want to know just what is required so that they don’t accidentally do more than was necessary. They have this fear of picking up one more piece of clothing than they had to or wasting valuable seconds by washing something that wasn’t asked of them. Regardless of the task, we all have a desire to know what is required. And what seems to come with that is the tendency to measure ourselves by those requirements. We place a value on how we think we did as compared to the guidelines. So when the Pharisee starts listing His deeds for the week in his prayers, it sounds sort of familiar.

Application

If we honestly listen to what he is doing, we can hear ourselves. We can hear how we make sure to do certain things during the week or calculate our tithe to make sure we give 10% of our pay. We have thoughts that two times a week in church is enough, so God ought to be pleased with us. We hesitate to give generously at other times, knowing that a tenth has already gone to the church, and that’s our fair share. We don’t consider ourselves thieves or cheats or unfaithful to our spouses, so that’s got to count for something. But how much is enough? What other accomplishments do we include to make sure God is happy with us? Why not be honest and tell Him you cheat, lie, and have an unfaithful heart. Know that it’s not in what you do; it’s in what He did. Live in His grace, and see how little that requires of you, but how much it compels you to do.

Charge

As we seek Him today, stop tracking all you do or don’t do for Him. Ask Him what He wants you to do with Him. Remember, He loves you because He made you, and you just need to love Him back.