February 4

Exodus 19:16-21:21, Matthew 23:13-39, Psalm 28:1-9, Proverbs 7:1-5 

Pray: Lord, hear the voice of my pleas for mercy, when I cry to You for help, when I lift up my hands toward Your most holy sanctuary. Lord, may I humble myself today and recognize my earnest need for You in my life. You, God are my only hope and the only source of my salvation. I love You, Jesus. Amen.

Read: In today’s reading we see the law of God given to Moses. Has there been anything that has stood the test of time more faithfully than the Ten Commandments? Most people still know at least a few of the Ten Commandments. But what is the true purpose of the commands? The Bible tells us that the commandments help us to see ourselves for who we really are, like a mirror. When we really take the time to look at the commands, we see that we are lawbreakers in need of grace. We have all lied, stolen or taken God’s name in vain. The punishment for crimes like these is serious, mainly because of whose laws we have broken.

Edify: How wonderfully the Bible weaves together! In our New Testament reading in Matthew we see Jesus pronouncing “woes” on the Pharisees. These were religious leaders who prided themselves in knowing and keeping the law. But Jesus is showing them just how sinful they are and exposing their hypocrisy. Just like we see in the Ten Commandments that we are lawbreakers, we see in our New Testament reading that overtly religious behavior doesn’t please God either. Repentance and faith in Jesus are the only way to truly be saved. Praise God!

Practice: I hope we can take an honest look at God’s law today. It seems to be a subtle theme. Let’s humble ourselves under the power of God’s law and see ourselves as lawbreakers. It is only until we do this that we can see the desperate need we have for the gospel. The good news for lawbreakers! Jesus came to save lawbreakers by keeping the whole law perfectly and sacrificing Himself. Will you stop trusting in your own works and wholly trust in Jesus' perfect work today?