John 7 has an account of Jesus responding to criticism from the Jewish leaders who said it was wrong of him to heal a man on the Sabbath day. The Jews had religious laws that no work was allowed on the Sabbath day, which originated with the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy.
Jesus tells them in John 7:24, “Look beneath the surface so you can judge correctly.” I believe he was telling them that they were misinterpreting the point of the commandment. God gave them the rules, or commandments, but they had to interpret them and put them in practice.
We too must interpret God’s direction as provided to us in the Bible. This requires us to actively use the mind God gave us to “look below the surface,” as Jesus tells us. I like the description of “checking our premises.” Our premises are our assumptions and pre-conceived ideas that we all have and use to interpret things around us.
We need to take some time to ask ourselves where the authority for those pre-conceived ideas came from. If we look beneath the surface and find that our premises do not conform to the two “greatest commandments” from Matthew 22, “love God, and love our neighbor” then we may need to change our thinking.
Dear Lord, we all struggle with the conflict between our wants and pride and your will. Help us regularly check our premises so we can judge correctly. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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I like what you said John. Love God and love people. There is not one person who ever lived that God did not love. Did God love Hitler? Yes! But Hitler rejected God, went his own way and suffered the consequences of his rejection. Total damnation! An eternity without any hope and the great white throne judgement still awaits and all all who reject Christ. This is what the Bible says. You can love people but not some of their ways. I hate some of my own ways and want to change that. We work out our own salvation with “trembling and fear.” Philippians 2:12
It is very clear in the Bible who the Lord says will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven and your right to say we need to change our thinking. When our thinking does not line up with Gods word, we are always wrong. Always! There’s no gray area in God’s word.
Why would anyone try to bring the Lord down to their sin level? It’s because they reject Gods laws, ordances, commandments and His son Jesus. There is a price to paid for that. “Not all who says Lord Lord will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” Matthew 7:21
The very definition of God is love. He sent His son to redeem us. When Jesus died on the cross, the Father turned on Him because of our great sin. Sin is got us all in a pickle. Christ gets us out of that.
“Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you , whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body.” 1 Corinthians 19:20
Many years ago I gave my heart to the Lord. Immediately my live, my views and thoughts changed. ” These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.” 1 Corinthians 2:10b”
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit” 1 Corinthians 2:14
The people of this world think that people like myself, Christians, are fools but it’s actually the other way around. Gods word says so. If we stand with the Lord we stand in good company. Amen!
“Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and though shall be saved.” Acts 16:31-Amen!