August 20th 2023
Do You See The Narrow Path Ahead Of You, Or Is There Some Thing In Your Eye?
Matthew 7:4-5 (NIV)
How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Every time I start typing the commentary for a VOW, a question haunts me. The question is this, where does the information come from? That is to say, does God direct what I type or is what is being stated just from me out of my life experiences? Even worse, is Satan helping me? We all need to ask ourselves such questions, and be brave enough to consider the true answer. We must be very careful when we try to help our brother or sister to understand how God would expect us to live! If a plank of sin in our eye clouds our vision, then how can we actually help others see God’s plan clearly?
God has a plan for each of us tailored exactly to match our abilities! However, He still gives us a free will to choose the path we will follow in this life! Many times we blame God for problems we encounter in this life, but if we are truly honest, we may see the fault lies with our inability to follow Him! Do you seek to follow Jesus’ plan for your life, or do you NEED to be an "in-charge" person! You cannot be the leader, and follow Christ!
Either you are following Christ or you are not! Of course, this statement is easy to say and difficult to understand! We have a free will given us by God in our Creation! Then He offers to guide us through this life, if we choose to follow Him! None of us fully understands why God put us in such a situation! We would not have done it that way, because we are for the most part control freaks! Only God has the power to be able to do it His way! Most of us spend too much time and energy trying to figure out a way around God’s plan for us than we do trying to fulfill it. That may be the plank Jesus was referring to in the selected verses. Not just sin holds us back from fulfilling His plan for us. Our endeavors to be the leader of our life takes up too much of our time too!
God’s plan for all of us includes other people. No one has a plan for this life that does not include other people. We are not able to resolve the problems of this life without the help through love of others. Jesus does not expect us to guide others, except that we are expected to guide them to Him! We are not required to solve the problems of other people; in fact, we are not even expected to resolve our own problems! We have first, God’s guidance, and then He gives us other people to help us. The help is expected to come from us, the love is all to flow from Jesus through us! This is how we can actually love our enemies, because we do not need to create the love, we are just supposed to dispense it!
Are you trying to generate love to dispense upon the people that come into your life? Are you choosing the people you will love? Are you choosing whom you will help? Do you have a plank in your eye? Is Jesus central in your life? Do you have any idea what Jesus would do with the people you encounter every day? How would He help them? Are you seeing others as He sees them? Are you trying to lead others through life’s problems, or are you trying to lead them to Him! Remember that you are not the answer. He is! You are not supposed to be the leader. He is!
When Jesus was on this earth, He led by being a servant! We are supposed to emulate Him in the way we conduct our lives. Are you trying to serve others by leading them or by being a servant to them? Being a servant is difficult. Most of us have been trained by our society to be leaders! Jesus asks us to follow Him. God gave us free will that allows us to choose which path to follow. The path that includes being a servant is the narrow one! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:12-14)
You are supposed to follow, not lead! You are supposed to be a servant, not a leader!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak
Matthew 7:4-5 (NIV)
How can you say to your brother, `Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.
Every time I start typing the commentary for a VOW, a question haunts me. The question is this, where does the information come from? That is to say, does God direct what I type or is what is being stated just from me out of my life experiences? Even worse, is Satan helping me? We all need to ask ourselves such questions, and be brave enough to consider the true answer. We must be very careful when we try to help our brother or sister to understand how God would expect us to live! If a plank of sin in our eye clouds our vision, then how can we actually help others see God’s plan clearly?
God has a plan for each of us tailored exactly to match our abilities! However, He still gives us a free will to choose the path we will follow in this life! Many times we blame God for problems we encounter in this life, but if we are truly honest, we may see the fault lies with our inability to follow Him! Do you seek to follow Jesus’ plan for your life, or do you NEED to be an "in-charge" person! You cannot be the leader, and follow Christ!
Either you are following Christ or you are not! Of course, this statement is easy to say and difficult to understand! We have a free will given us by God in our Creation! Then He offers to guide us through this life, if we choose to follow Him! None of us fully understands why God put us in such a situation! We would not have done it that way, because we are for the most part control freaks! Only God has the power to be able to do it His way! Most of us spend too much time and energy trying to figure out a way around God’s plan for us than we do trying to fulfill it. That may be the plank Jesus was referring to in the selected verses. Not just sin holds us back from fulfilling His plan for us. Our endeavors to be the leader of our life takes up too much of our time too!
God’s plan for all of us includes other people. No one has a plan for this life that does not include other people. We are not able to resolve the problems of this life without the help through love of others. Jesus does not expect us to guide others, except that we are expected to guide them to Him! We are not required to solve the problems of other people; in fact, we are not even expected to resolve our own problems! We have first, God’s guidance, and then He gives us other people to help us. The help is expected to come from us, the love is all to flow from Jesus through us! This is how we can actually love our enemies, because we do not need to create the love, we are just supposed to dispense it!
Are you trying to generate love to dispense upon the people that come into your life? Are you choosing the people you will love? Are you choosing whom you will help? Do you have a plank in your eye? Is Jesus central in your life? Do you have any idea what Jesus would do with the people you encounter every day? How would He help them? Are you seeing others as He sees them? Are you trying to lead others through life’s problems, or are you trying to lead them to Him! Remember that you are not the answer. He is! You are not supposed to be the leader. He is!
When Jesus was on this earth, He led by being a servant! We are supposed to emulate Him in the way we conduct our lives. Are you trying to serve others by leading them or by being a servant to them? Being a servant is difficult. Most of us have been trained by our society to be leaders! Jesus asks us to follow Him. God gave us free will that allows us to choose which path to follow. The path that includes being a servant is the narrow one! So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. (Matthew 7:12-14)
You are supposed to follow, not lead! You are supposed to be a servant, not a leader!
Your brother in life through Adam, your brother in eternity through Jesus,
Bob Moak