Key Thought

There are some who watch others who are committed to Christ only trying to find fault in them. Critical sniping at Jesus' followers -- "nit-picky-ness" as I call it -- is not a virtue. Jesus condemns judging others' hearts on the basis of traditions and from a harsh spirit, looking to catch them in minor points of law. The way we judge others is then the standard of judgment used on us by God. As Christians, we have been liberated from law-keeping; let's also liberate ourselves from a harsh, judgmental, and nit-picky spirit. May the spirit that made some of the Pharisees so harsh not be found among us!

Today's Prayer

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Holy God, forgive me and help me leave behind a critical, harsh spirit of judgment. Teach me to be gracious and never let my faith get lost in Pharisaism. In the name of the Lord Jesus, I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

The followers of John and the Pharisees were fasting. Some people came to Jesus and said, "John's followers fast, and the followers of the Pharisees fast. But your followers don't fast. Why?" Jesus answered, "{When there is a wedding,} the friends of the bridegroom are not sad while he is with them. They cannot fast (be sad) while the bridegroom is still there. But the time will come when the bridegroom will leave them. The friends are sad when the bridegroom leaves. Then they will fast. "When a person sews a patch over a hole on an old coat, that person never uses a piece of cloth that is not yet shrunk. If he does, the patch will {shrink and} pull away from the coat. Then the hole will be worse. Also, people never pour new wine into old wine bags. Why? Because the new wine will break the bags, and the wine will be ruined with the wine bags. People always put new wine into new wine bags." On the Sabbath day, Jesus was walking through some grain fields. Jesus' followers were walking with him. The followers picked some grain {to eat}. The Pharisees saw this and said to Jesus, "Why are your followers doing that? It is against the {Jewish} law to do that on the Sabbath day." Jesus answered, "You have read what David did when he and the people with him were hungry and needed food. It was during the time of Abiathar the high priest. David went into God's house and ate the bread that was offered to God. And the law {of Moses} says that only priests can eat that bread. David also gave some of the bread to those people with him." Then Jesus said to the Pharisees, "The Sabbath day was made to help people. People were not made to be ruled by the Sabbath day. So the Son of Man is Lord (master) of every day, even the Sabbath."

— Mark 2:18-28 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.