WHAT DO YOU THINK IS IMPORTANT?    by Carl McMurray

                 “And it came about while He said these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice, and said to Him, ‘Blessed is the womb that bore You, and the breasts at which you nursed.’

                But He said, ‘On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God, and observe it.’”                                                                                             Luke 11:27-28

                 Sometimes it just seems like human nature that we must set our priorities in different order from the way God intends them to be.  The woman above probably thought she was paying the Lord a great compliment when she praised his mother.  I have heard compliments along the same line as this myself.  Her intentions, without a doubt, were sincere, honorable and exuberant.  The fact is, however, that she was focused on the wrong area.

                People today have not changed. We are still in constant danger of doing the same thing, i.e., setting our priorities on the wrong things. In spite of this plain passage, the Catholic church is still trying to “bless” Jesus by worshipping His mother rather than by listening to His words and following His instructions. Many try to honor Him by honoring His birthday each Christmas, which is not even mentioned in Scripture, while at the same time they ignore Bible instruction to honor His death weekly by eating the Lord’s Supper.  The Bible says “sing” and make the melody in your heart. So why do men spend thousands of dollars on musical instruments and split churches over “playing” which God’s word never teaches Christians to do? The Scriptures show us God’s plan in getting the gospel out into the world while every congregation remains completely autonomous and self-sufficient. So why do men think they will honor God by ignoring that pattern and tying churches together into denominations, associations, or sponsoring church arrangements? When will we learn the lesson of Luke 11?  The way to honor Jesus and compliment our Lord is to be obedient!  Just doing what He says brings glory to Him and blessings to us. He said, “Blessed are those who hear the word of God and obey it.”

                Which do you think is more important? To be the “winner” in a Bible discussion, or having truth come to the light (even if it is being stated by the other person)? Which is better, to create a strong and pure “image” of righteousness, answering every possible accusation with righteous indignation, or to admit when we fall prey to the sin of pride, anger, envy, covetousness, grumbling, etc.? Which will do our spirits more good?  Which would the Lord be more pleased with?  Would it be better to keep quiet and keep peace in the church and allow men to continue in their sin, or speak up and hurt feelings while defending the kingdom and Christ’s righteousness?  Is it better to stay quiet and allow unqualified men to take positions of leadership in the church where their influence can be magnified, thus not drawing their wrath, or is it more important to uphold God’s description of godly leaders and oppose compromise with His standard?

                I’m afraid that there are possibly many areas in which we need Jesus to say the same thing to us that He said to the woman in Luke 11. We think that we are serving Him, or praising Him, or defending Him and the truth is that our focus is off. We cannot defend the gospel with sarcasm or a hateful attitude. We cannot restore a brother in sin by speaking evil of him. We cannot “persuade” and “reason with” people the way the apostle did by cramming truth down their throats with an “I’m all right and you’re all wet” attitude. And we cannot compromise or ignore one part of God’s word so that we can say that we have fulfilled another part.

                We need to make God’s priorities our priorities. It’s difficult, but whatever He says is important. Don’t step off to the side and think that we can praise God in any way we please. Praise Him by obedience and start with the most difficult one to instruct - self! We are not “blessed” because we pick part of God’s word, from here or there, and choose to do that part. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hear (all?) the word of God, and observe it (all?).”  He will bless your efforts.

A man was being tailgated by a stressed out woman on a busy street. Suddenly, the light turned yellow, just in front of him. He did the right thing, stopping at the crosswalk, though he could have beaten the red light, accelerating through the intersection. The tailgater was furious, honking her horn, screaming in frustration as she missed her chance to get through the intersection, dropping her cell phone and makeup.

While still in mid-rant, she heard a tap on her window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer. He ordered her to exit her car with her hands up. He took her to the police station where she was searched, finger printed, photographed, and placed in a holding cell. After a couple of hours she was escorted back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting with her personal effects.

He said, “I’m sorry for this mistake. I pulled up behind you while you were blowing your horn, rudely gesturing at the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him. I saw the ‘What Would Jesus Do’ bumper sticker, the ‘Choose Life’ license plate holder, the ‘Follow Me to Sunday School’ bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk, Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.”

- by Curt Hughes