DAILY?READINGS: Gen. 26; Job 32-33; Matt. 13:44 to 14:12
Why doth this man thus speak blasphemies? Mark 2:7
We must be ever careful that we do not become like the Pharisees. In this passage the Pharisees struggled with seeing God work in a way that was inconsistent with their version of truth (vv. 1-12). That was certainly not the spirit of the Apostle Paul (see Phil. 1:18). They were also scandalized as the Lord reached out to a class they considered below them (vv. 13-17). Christ reached out to all people, as should we. He also possessed a liberty towards fasting that they lacked (vv. 18-22). We too must watch that ritual does not take precedence over enjoying the living Christ. May He never say of us, they “honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mark 7:6). —N. C. Funston
Lord, take my life and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
—J. E. Orr