Thoughts From Luke - Day 78

                                                    Luke 18:1-17

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’
⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’”
⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”
⁹ To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: ¹⁰ “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
¹³ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’
¹⁴ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
¹⁵ People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. ¹⁶ But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁷ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”


                There are three distinct accounts in this passage - the parable of the persistent widow, the prayers of the Pharisee vs. the Tax Collector, and the children coming to Jesus. I grouped them all together because they all relate to something we have been looking at lately and it is prayer. Prayer is an essential part of our relationship with God. Life is all about inhaling and exhaling and prayer is the exhaling part of our life. You can't have a relationship without communication or words. That's why Jesus became the Word (John 1:1), to bring us back into a relationship with God. That's why God has given us His word in the scriptures to speak to us. That's why we are to speak words to Him and He listens - in every language 24/7. So how is His word speaking to me today - let's look at the passage from bottom to top.

           I was just with my grand-nieces (my sister's daughter's children) at the funeral this weekend. I saw them in July and played with them in the swimming pool throwing them in the air, putting them in "jail" and they wore me out for 3 hours. When I saw them, they didn't remember me but when I told them I was the guy who threw them at the swimming pool, their faces lit up and they were all over me. They were holding my hand, sitting on my lap and playing guessing games like what is my favorite color, what's my middle name, who is my favorite princess, etc. They never left my side. I picture this as the ideal relationship with God. Because of what He has done for us, we go into His presence, loving on Him, talking, listening, just relishing His companionship. Our prayer time should have some times of that where we are just loving on God. Actually the best times I have of that are when I'm listening to and singing along with worship music,  it draws me into His presence like nothing else, which leads to the Pharisee and tax collector.

          Maybe the reason that praise and worship music draws me into the presence of God is that as I sing and contemplate on the words, I'm reminded of who He is and who I am. I'm reminded of what He has done and what I have done. How can I do anything but praise Him after that?  How can I do anything but love Him? This was the problem with the Pharisee.  He never entered God's presence because he thought he was good. When we realize His holiness and our sinfulness and what it took to bring the two of us together, it leads to the child like relationship that I was describing. 

          Now that I have gone home from the funeral in Wisconsin and back to Tennessee,  I realized that I mat not see the grand nieces for another year. Is that the way it is with me and God?  Are my sweet times with Him few and far between?  Like the persistent widow,  I should be wearing Him out daily.  He should get to the point where He says, "You again!?" He would never,  but that's the way it should ideally be. Let's enter boldly, lovingly,  humbly, continually into His presence!