Believing it all

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW

BELIEVING IT ALL

Matt 21:28-32

28 "What do you think? There was a man who had two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the vineyard.' 29 "'I will not,' he answered, but later he changed his mind and went. 30 "Then the father went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but he did not go. 31 "Which of the two did what his father wanted?" "The first," they answered. Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you. 32 For John came to you to show you the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes did. And even after you saw this, you did not repent and believe him.

NIV

We are still in this conversation between Jesus and the chief priests and the elders. They had just asked him by what authority he did what he did, and he answered them with a question they could not answer without revealing their hypocrisy. Now he gives them even more to consider with this parable. Of course we understand the point Jesus was making with this parable as he explains it in terms the chief priests and elders could see he was talking about them. What we have to deal with is finding if we are the first or the second son. The second son represents a person who but gives God lip service. This person might look good on the outside, but is not so good on the inside. This person makes it seem like they are doing all the right things, but it is but a show. “Yes, I will”, but does not, they continue to live the way they think is the right way to live. “I will serve you, Lord”, but then does it in the way they want to serve. Yet they are still a son, still a believer, just not doing what the Father wants. The first son represents that person who might not want to either stop a certain way of thinking or behavior or start to think another way and change a behavior. This person might struggle and attempt to weasel out of this change, but ultimately gives in the prompting of the Spirit. It is not easy to change the way we think. It is not easy to give in to a new way of doing something either. It is not easy to get involved in an area we have no experience with or simply do not enjoy. But this person after considering the situation, knowing God desires the best for them, submits to the leading of the Spirit and makes those needed changes. This is want Jesus was telling them why they were the second son and tax collector and prostitutes would be ahead of them to get into the kingdom of God. They appear to be religious, “Yes I will go”, but they are not going, they did not believe, they did not believe John the Baptist like the tax collectors and prostitutes did. This also brings to mind how much do we believe. Although it is true all believers believe otherwise they would not be believers, but how much we all believe is the question. We may all believe in Jesus for our salvation, but what about all the other scriptures?  How much of the rest of scripture do we accept, even after a little stubbornness? How much do we say, sure we are a believer, but then not believe or refuse to believe some of the truth in other scriptures. There are so many examples of how they could apply to our lives, it is scary. The point is that we might be a little stubborn in making the change, but we make it. It is far better to be like that, then to profess how much we have changed, but then not really changed. Being religious simply does not get it. This is about believing, believing all of the truths of God.