Gifts
Gifts are important, but there is something more important that the gift.
‘But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you lock people out of the kingdom of heaven. For you do not go in yourselves, and when others are going in, you stop them. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cross sea and land to make a single convert, and you make the new convert twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. ‘Woe to you, blind guides, who say, “Whoever swears by the sanctuary is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by the oath.” You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the sanctuary that has made the gold sacred? And you say, “Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.” How blind you are! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; and whoever swears by the sanctuary, swears by it and by the one who dwells in it; and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it. ‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel! - Matthew 23:13-24
Jesus is once again attacking the practices of the leaders of the faith, accusing them of valuing the wrong things.
He points out that it is the reason for the gift that is more important than the gift itself.
When someone donates a large sum of money to a cause, we tend to praise that person and cherish their donation. But it is the cause that is great. And it is the one who gives who is blessed by holding that cause up.
What we choose as valuable to us, others will see and judge us for it. So, it is better to value the things that benefit all than to value what seems important only to us.
What matters is why we do what we do. If it is for God's glory, it has to be good.
More to come...