I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Matthew 7-9.

    Today’s passage starts with a saying by Jesus which is often misinterpreted: “Do not judge others…” Yet a few verses later Jesus tells us that we can identify people by their actions. In the context, Jesus tells us to judge others by the criteria by which we would wish to be judged. Yesterday I wrote about how Jesus tells us that what we think and say matters as much as what we do. That guideline is for judging ourselves, we should strive to only think and say that which is righteous. We cannot judge others by that standard because we cannot know what they are thinking and are all too likely to misinterpret what they say. In today’s passage He makes it clear that the only criteria by which we can judge other people is by what we see them do. Even there He gives us a guideline to apply to ourselves. If we only think and say good things but do not actually do those good things we will not be welcome in God’s Kingdom.

    When I read about what Jesus’ critics said to Him when He dined with Matthew’s friends and His reply I think about how my parents’ taught me to understand it. My parents’ were teetotalers. They strongly believed that Christians should never consume alcohol, yet they also believed just as strongly that we should be friends to sinners (as our society defines “sinners”). Explaining this next part gets hard. My parents taught me not to drink alcohol, yet another part of their teaching tells me that I should. It came as a revelation to me that Jesus was the life of the party. Everybody invited Him to their parties, the “good” people, and the wild ones. He was not a wet blanket, yet He called sinners to stop sinning. Jesus tells us that only those who know they are sick benefit from a doctor. In the same way, those who do not think they are sinners will not respond to a call to repentance. If we want to reach people for Christ, we must spend time with those who know they need His healing.
    Which brings me to the last part of today’s passage. Jesus told His disciples (which hopefully includes us) that the people who needed His healing were many, but those who were spreading it were few. He told them to pray that God would send more workers. Which brings up two points. Are we praying for God to send more workers? And, is He trying to send us? Which brings up a third point, if He is sending us, will we go?