Today’s scripture: Luke 6:41-42 (ESV-text and audio) (KJV) (The Message)
As you read, consider: What might God be saying to me? Summarize your thoughts in a sentence or two.
My thoughts (Melody Merida):
I can recall one Saturday afternoon when I was in junior high. My mother decided to spend the morning at various garage sales in the area — a favorite of hers for Saturday mornings. My older sister and I often went with her but on this day we decided to sleep in and enjoy the day off.
When we managed to pull ourselves out of bed around 11:00 am we straggled into the living room and plopped ourselves down on the sofas to watch TV. After a few minutes my sister went into the kitchen and returned with a bowl full of a delicious creamy dessert my mom had made the day before. The rule of the house was that we were to have no food in the living room. Period. But here was my sister sitting on the sofa chowing down on a bowl full of messy, gooey dessert.
Well, being the “good” daughter that I was, I decided to intervene on my mother’s behalf. So I began to chant the usual, “You’re in sooooo much trouble. I’m telling mom when she gets home.” My sister was unaffected by this and barely even acknowledged I was in the room (this was not unusual since I was her pesky little sister). So I decided to amp it up.
I began to taunt her, yell at her, poke her — just be downright annoying. My sister decided to do the only thing that she could think of to get me to be quiet and leave her alone. She placed two of her fingers in her dessert and then smeared it all over my face! I couldn’t believe it. I was outraged on one hand, but filled with glee on the other. I now had evidence. Instead of washing my face, I decided to leave the mess there until my mother returned home.
When mom returned a couple of hours later (yes, my face was itchy) I ran to the door to show her what my sister had done. I could barely contain my delight as I told her the entire story — how my sister was breaking the rules, and that she should not eat in the living room. My mom is a smart woman so she didn’t buy the innocent act I was giving her. She astutely let it be — she didn’t do a thing to either me or my sister.
I was so worried about what my sister was doing wrong, that I completely overlooked what I was doing wrong. I tried to rationalize my error by pointing out the mistakes my sister was making. We need to take care of the things that keep us away from God and worry less about criticizing someone else.
Prayer for the day: Jesus, help me to remember the plank in my own eye when I feel like criticizing someone else. I’m sure I will find much less to say. Amen.
We encourage you to include a time of prayer with this reading. If you need a place to get started, consider the guidelines on the How to Pray page.