LifeLink Devotional for Tuesday, January 7, 2025

I have no idea what started the fight. In fact, there had been a series of fights. One day we went to our bedroom, locked the door, and began slugging it out. I had thrown him on the bed and was in the middle of a flying leap from my bed to his when his feet came up into my midsection. He flipped me right over his head. The problem was that the bed was next to the wall, and my head went through the sheetrock. I missed going through the second story window by just inches. The fight stopped for a while as we developed a plan to cover the hole. But it wasn’t over. Days later I attacked him with some horrible words, and as he tried to punch me I ran from the house. He locked the doors. I found an open window. He closed the window on me while I was halfway through and began pounding on my back. I soon discovered that I was never going to be able to best my brother at anything – until I discovered golf.

So what do you think? Based on the facts of the story as told above, which one of us had the responsibility to go to the other and seek reconciliation? I’ll wait a moment while you review the case and try to decide which of us was to blame……

OK, enough time. I need to tell you that this was a trick. While the story is true in every detail, it’s a trick because in God’s eyes responsibility for reconciliation has nothing to do with who’s to blame. If it did, we would never be able to be saved and reconciled to God because in our sin we would never seek the One who is sinless. God’s model of reconciliation is for the One in the right to seek out the one in the wrong. Time spent determining blame is wasted time that prolongs the pain of separation.

Look closely at today’s Scripture verses.

Matthew 5:23-24  “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Do you see any mention of blame? I don’t. I see a person who knows that there is a problem between himself and a brother, but we have no indication of who was at fault. All we see is that any attempt to declare yourself right with God in worship is invalid if we are not right with one another.

If we look at the context of these words of Jesus, we see something very important. They are taken from what we now call the Sermon on the Mount, and Jesus is teaching the people that there is a higher standard than the law by which we are to live. His first illustration of this is with the commandment “Do not murder.” Everyone listening to him agreed that this was the law. But Jesus carries the law to its fullest meaning when He says, “…anyone who murders will be subject to judgment. But I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment.” It is at this point that Jesus says “Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”

Chew on that for today. Digest it. Let it affect your thinking and your actions. Then come back tomorrow for more.

Pastor John