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CHAPTER 9: A CHALLENGE

By Grantley Morris

This entire book is copyright, Grantley Morris. All rights reserved.



    Using words as a brush, Jesus painted a now-famous masterpiece. On the canvas of our minds, we see two dedicated, God-ordained leaders. One was leaving Jerusalem, probably on his way home after having admirably completed sacred temple ministries. The other was perhaps hurrying towards the holy city to worship and serve the God he loved. An inspiring sight – except they abandoned a fellow countryman, leaving him to squirm in a pool of blood.

    The hypocrisy of devout first century Jews is frightening. Their whole lives were dedicated to the study and out-living of God's Word. Their zeal was indisputable. No amount of effort seemed too much for them; no detail too small. How could such committed people see so clearly and be so blind; be so right and yet so wrong?

    Respected religious leaders murdered their Saviour as an act of religious devotion. A chill sweeps my spine. Am I any less deluded? We humans have a horrifying potential for self-deception.

    We desperately need Christ to expose our hypocrisy as effectively as He did in first-century Palestine. So should the Lord graciously open our eyes to a short-coming, we have much reason to rejoice. Knowing our failures is infinitely preferable to being ignorant of them. How could we repent of something we do not even recognise as wrong?

    The magnitude of God's forgiveness, the expression of His boundless love, is equalled by His power to make us victorious. When we discover a failure, we have every right to say to Satan:

    'Rejoice not against O my enemy:
    When I fall, I shall arise'.

    We long to please the One who has done so much for us. So let's join with the psalmist in praying:

    'Search me, O God, and know my heart:
    Try me, and know my thoughts:
    And see if there be any wicked way in me,
    And lead me in the way everlasting'.

    The questions in the following quiz may not be as perceptive as those that would fall from Jesus' lips. Forgive me. There's something in my eye. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels disturbingly like a log . . .

    Next . . .



    The Quiz



    In Tune with God: Contents