Today’s verse is one of several “you have heard that it was said” teachings of Jesus. He took several widely accepted adages from His culture and turned them around. Some of these adages were even from the Scriptures, the Ten Commandments, in fact. On their own, they seem sensible, harmless, even good. But Jesus taught that the wisdom and interpretation of popular culture is never good enough. His followers need to be better, perfect even. Perfect in love.
Of course, that’s only possible with Jesus. I can claim my perfection through Him.
I’m wondering what adages from my current culture He might have something to say about.
“Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” That’s easy. Jesus would say that even death is not certain and governments come and go, but God was, is, and always will be.
“You only live once.” Another obvious one. Jesus would say that if I believe in Him, repent, and accept His sacrifice, I can have eternal life after this one.
“Cleanliness is next to Godliness.” I’m pretty sure God doesn’t care how much dirt I have on my clothes or hands when I’m busily working to help my neighbor clean up after a fire. Sure there are a lot of commands in the Law having to do with ritual cleanliness, but Jesus yelled at the Pharisees for being “white-washed tombs” or appearing holy while being evil inside.
“God helps those who help themselves.” This sounds good, right? I shouldn’t sit around praying during a flood when a perfectly good boat floats by. But I think Jesus would say this isn’t right. Without God I am useless. That’s the whole reason He came and died for me. I can’t save myself. No matter how hard I try, I will never be good enough. I can’t earn my salvation. Only by completely surrendering to God and accepting his gift will I find my salvation.
Dear God,
Thank you so much for your Word. Remind me to continue to spend time reading it and understanding your truth. Help me to see when something in my culture is taking me in the wrong direction. Forgive me for going with what feels right instead of judging advice according to your Word.
CamDevo 