Today's chapter is John 7, which covers the confrontations between the Pharisees and Jesus when Jesus attended the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem. Let's SOAP!
Scripture:
"Stop judging by mere appearances, and make a right judgement." ~John 7:24
Observation:
This is the conclusion of one of Jesus' arguments as he asks why the Jews will keep Moses' law and circumcise a child on the Sabbath, and then lambaste him for healing the whole man on the Sabbath. Then Jesus utters today's text.
Application:
Even out of context, our Scripture for today is still very good advice. Anyone remember when Samuel was trying to anoint one of Jesses' sons as the next king of Israel? Well, God's choice certainly wasn't who Samuel thought he would be! Remember what God told Samuel about Jesse's other sons?
""Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." ~1 Samuel 16:7
Does that kinda remind you of what Jesus just said??
I don't know about you, but I know from personal experience that it is real easy to judge someone. See a new kid come into Sabbath School, I "think" it's very easy to tell who they are! I mean, c'mon, look at the clothes they're wearing! Look at this, look at that! And all that I "think" that person is, could be totally wrong. They could actually be the nicest person in the world! So it's very easy to judge people from mere, outward appearances, but God tells us that we shouldn't. That's a challenge we all need to work on.
Prayer:
Dear God, you know that it is too easy, almost second nature, for me to judge people by mere, outward appearances. I know that you don't want me to do that, and truly deep down inside me, I don't want to either. I surrender myself wholly to you--please help me stop judging people like I have been. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
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