Crossing the Line
"How much will you pay me to betray Jesus to you?" And they gave him thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:15 NLT)

In the movies we often hear the old adage everyone has his price. This usually occurs when someone is being tempted to do something they would not normally do. They have been asked to cross the line. Initially they say no. Then the price is increased until they succumb to the offer.

Daily we are asked in various ways to cross the line. It may not be money that gets us to say yes, when no would be more appropriate. Often money is the driving force. However, sometimes it is simply what feels good, what looks like a fun thing to do.

Judas sold out Jesus for his thirty pieces of silver. Daily we need to evaluate the temptations that come our way. What does it take for us to sell out? What rewards on earth are important enough for us to cross the line?

The Invitation
"Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see." (Matthew 28:9 NLT)

This comes from the story of the wedding feast. If you do not know the story, I suggest reading from verse 1 through 14.

The Jews were God’s first choice, but most of them refused His invitation to the wedding feast. They did not acknowledge who Jesus was; they were blinded to the Messiah they had waited hundreds of years for.

Jesus was the messenger. He brought the invitation for all from God, the invitation for eternal life, the invitation to be the bride of Christ. When the chosen people refused, God went to the street corners and invited everyone to come.

Some sneak into the wedding because it is an open invitation. To partake, one has to be a believer. Jesus must be their Lord and Savior. They are the ones dressed in wedding clothes, the ones who have put on Christ.

The imposters are weeded out even though they desire to stay for everyone loves a party. Only the believers make it to the wedding for many are called but few are chosen. Jesus is no longer walking among us, but He left us with the job of inviting. It is up to us to go out to the street corners and invite everyone we see.

WYSIWYG
"These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away." (Matthew 15:8, NLT)

We are excited about the computer applications we now use. Most are WYSIWYG or what you see is what you get. As we type in our word processor, what appears on the screen is what we expect to see on the printed paper. Even better, applications like publishing and web development allow us to build intricate pages and be confident in the results.

It would be great if everyone we met were WYSIWYG. Most are dressed the part and may even know the script, but inside lurks something else. They have the right words to say and put on a good show.

You might think I was referring only to people you meet during your walk in the world. Just because someone uses the right words and can quote scripture and verse does not make their heart right. However, those with a right heart will have a genuine exterior.

How do we tell the difference? Praise and worship does not generate fruit, only a pure heart does. We must look to the fruit in someone’s life to know if their heart is with the one they honor with their lips.

More Understanding
"To those who are open to my teaching, more understanding will be given, and they will have an abundance of knowledge. But to those who are not listening, even what they have will be taken away from them." (Matthew 13:12 NLT)

In school, we listen to the instructor and study the material he recommends. To show we have done the work, he tests us along the way. At the end of the course, we are given a final exam to see how much we absorbed.

If we are studying how to use a particular Windows application, we need to listen to the instructor doing what he tells us to do as he steps us through the new process. If instead, we spend all our time searching the Internet and reading material on how to grow tomatoes, our knowledge and understating of the Windows Application will not increase at all.

As the instructor moves ahead to give us more input, we will not understand because we have not spent the time going over what has already been given to us; we have not practiced what he taught us last.

As we use what the Holy Spirit has taught us and are open to His teaching, more is given to us. Bookwork is great, but the material we work hard to absorb from books, tapes, and others may have nothing to do with what Gods wants us to understand next.

If you want to build a house in our city, you first have to have plans drawn. Then the plans must be approved by the building inspector. There at two sets of plans which have the appropriate stamps and seals. Any other copies are just copies of the original drawings, not the approved set. The contractor in charge has one approved set and the city holds the other one.

God holds the approved plans for our lives; not us. As we look to Him and are open to His teaching, more will be given