Are You Still So Dull?
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked, "Why do your disciples break the tradition of elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!"
Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God', he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditionl. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he profesied about you:
"These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are rules taught by men."
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'."
Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands so does not make him 'unclean'."- Matthew 15: 1-20
`While this passage holds a great message in and of itself, what struck me most of all was the statement Jesus made..."Are You Still So Dull?" The first thing that came to my mind was literally..."You go Jesus!", the second thing that came to my mind is why didn't I catch this before...I am so greatful that I serve a God that is not afraid to look me directly in the eye and say...Are you still so dull?...wake-up! As my pastor always says thank goodness God is more concerned with our character rather than our comfort.
Definition of DULL in Webster's Dictionary:
not exciting, not interesting, gloomy, not sharp, not bright, rather stupid, lack of excitement, slowness...
Now, look at those words, does any of that reflect what a follower of Christ should be, but how often do we get this way, separating ourselves from the Word, our Prayer life, placing our daily tasks and little delights before God, sticking our knife into things that DO NOT EDIFY Christ, can quickly dull it. If we are dull Christians we cannot be effective Christain's, we must be sharpened on the millstone of our foundation Jesus Christ...
Reminds me of the hook in Jesus Freak Remix by DC Talk...
Peek into my past and my rhymes seem greek,... for I wasn't the man that I am today, ...see I lived my life like tate manned his fate...and Mac was the factor in those early days...until I turned black and whites into hazy greys, then the Word cut through me like a Buck Knife, and so deep I'll be freak for life...
Forgot some of the words, but you get the idea...
My question to you, is how dull have you let your self become?
Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God', he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your traditionl. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he profesied about you:
"These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain;
their teachings are rules taught by men."
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean', but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean'."
Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands so does not make him 'unclean'."- Matthew 15: 1-20
`While this passage holds a great message in and of itself, what struck me most of all was the statement Jesus made..."Are You Still So Dull?" The first thing that came to my mind was literally..."You go Jesus!", the second thing that came to my mind is why didn't I catch this before...I am so greatful that I serve a God that is not afraid to look me directly in the eye and say...Are you still so dull?...wake-up! As my pastor always says thank goodness God is more concerned with our character rather than our comfort.
Definition of DULL in Webster's Dictionary:
not exciting, not interesting, gloomy, not sharp, not bright, rather stupid, lack of excitement, slowness...
Now, look at those words, does any of that reflect what a follower of Christ should be, but how often do we get this way, separating ourselves from the Word, our Prayer life, placing our daily tasks and little delights before God, sticking our knife into things that DO NOT EDIFY Christ, can quickly dull it. If we are dull Christians we cannot be effective Christain's, we must be sharpened on the millstone of our foundation Jesus Christ...
Reminds me of the hook in Jesus Freak Remix by DC Talk...
Peek into my past and my rhymes seem greek,... for I wasn't the man that I am today, ...see I lived my life like tate manned his fate...and Mac was the factor in those early days...until I turned black and whites into hazy greys, then the Word cut through me like a Buck Knife, and so deep I'll be freak for life...
Forgot some of the words, but you get the idea...
My question to you, is how dull have you let your self become?
Comments