Waiting to Catch

 DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO LUKE

WAITING TO CATCH

Luke 11:53-54

53 When Jesus left there, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, 54 waiting to catch him in something he might say.

NIV

At first glance, this wouldn’t have anything to do with our lives, or being able to make any application we could use as a life lesson. However, it might. Because Jesus had spoken plain to them and threatened their self-righteousness on so many levels, they became angry to the point of hatred. Because we know the rest of the story, and how they finally heard enough they felt it was a way to charge with a crime against God. Luke tells us here they watched him closely to see if he would say something they could use against him. Here is where we see how this comes into our lives. If we think we are not being watched by the world, we are deceiving ourselves. We cannot hide in the church all day long; we must go out among the world daily. Now, of course, the whole premise is based on whether we are reflecting the glory of God in ever-increasing glory. That is the people we have contact with in our daily walk, such as at work, or in the regular places we frequent know that we are born-again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. It is sad to say that if we just tell them we are Christians, they would not be threatened by us, or think of us much differently than they are, for many people use that term to define who they think they are. The Pharisees thought they were in the right place with God because of their thinking they obeyed all the laws. It doesn’t really matter how people define themselves, but it matters how God defines us. Nevertheless, if we are being image bearers of God, then the world, those who have not come to Jesus may not feel that comfortable in our presence, and simply watch us, and listen to us to catch being or saying something that does not match who we say we are, if we actually say that we are born-again, Spirit-filled followers of Jesus Christ. If they can catch us, they might say we are a hypocrite, and they can discredit anything else we say about Jesus or God. Just as the Pharisees were waiting to catch Jesus in something he might say, the world is waiting to catch us.