(Translated version, original article written in Chinese by Pastor Mickey Hsiao)

Worship

By singing praises and hymns, awake your soul, open your heart to the Lord, and prepare yourself to welcome the presence of God and receive the Word of God that will be given to you.

Thanksgiving

Petition with thanksgiving to God for a wonderful day and pray sincerely for a focused Scripture reading time! (Do not rush into reading the Bible without starting with prayers!) (e.g., you may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what will you be speaking to me today?)

Scripture Reading

Get the following items ready in advance: your devotional notebook, paper, pen, and/or electronic devotional articles so that you can easily write down the Bible verses, questions, and thoughts you have noticed! You are encouraged to open your Bible and vocally read out the scriptures (Try to practice this reading method daily or once a week)!

Scripture Reading: Matthew Ch. 23 (ESV)

Meditation

Take a moment to quietly reflect on today’s Scriptures. Through such exercises, let God’s Word be gradually written into our hearts and be inscribed to our mind.

Devotional

Read the devotional articles prepared by CBCLWA (*Read the Bible first before reading any devotional materials.)

This chapter is worth reading carefully. Jesus told the crowd and his disciples to do and observe whatever has been told by the scribes and Pharisees, but not to follow their actions. This is because the scribes and Pharisees preach, but do not practice; they do their deeds to be seen by others, and they love their names to be honored. Jesus said: “The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (vv.11-12) This should be the mentality of those who serve in the ministry.   

And then Jesus called out seven “woes” to the Pharisees, namely:  

• Block the entry point: to shut the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces; neither entering themselves nor allowing those who would enter; 
• Make a single proselyte: to convert a person into a child of hell;   
• Blind guides: not seeing which one of these is greater: God, the holy temple, the gold, the altar, or the gift;  
• Negligence: not understanding which of these is more important: justice and mercy vs. tithes;  

• Deceitfulness: keeping clean outwardly, but inside are full of greed and self-indulgence;  
• Fraud: appearing to people as righteous, but on the inside are full of uncleanness, hypocrisy, and lawlessness 
• Self-deception: assuming not taking part with their ancestral mistakes, but are actually ignoring their own faults. 

As we are reading today’s scriptures, let us recall the previous sermon of Jesus on the mount, such as these: beware of practicing righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them (Mt. 6:1-4); praying, but not deliberately to be seen by others (Mt. 6:5-8); letting what you say be simply a yes or no (Mt. 5:33-37). These verses are echoing in today’s scripture reading. The Pharisees were known as keeping their good “religious” life. They appeared bright and beautiful on the outside as they follow the Law and traditions. They had good reputation for their dedication. Yet, the Pharisees had no connotations that Jesus valued. Instead, Jesus came and took apart their masks, calling them hypocrites, and left them without any affection! 

Let us ask ourselves this question. Have we ever been more, less or even in a little bit living in the shadow of the Pharisees? Is it possible for us to make the same mistakes as the scribes and the Pharisees? Which of the mistakes they made is most striking to you? Whenever we intentionally do work in front of people in order to be praised by others, we would turn into hypocrites like the Pharisees. Beware of those situations. If those situations are not dealt with, our relationship with the Lord will be impacted and it will certainly rot and stink. 

Pray

Give thanks to God for His enabling us to read the Scriptures and for our response for living out the Word of God today! (e.g., You may start with a simple prayer like this: “Dear Lord, what/where are you going to lead me to today?”)