it’s what you do with what you know.
Jesus and the parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector (Luke 18:9-14 NIV). To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable:
“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself; ‘God I thank you that I am not like other men–robbers, evildoers, adulterers–or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
“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.’
“I tell you that this man (the tax collector), rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.”
I thought of this scripture the other day as someone interrupted me without my consent and gave me an outpouring of knowledge about something I could have cared less about. I won’t get into details about the conversation but it gave me a flashback to my pre-recovery days when I loved to let others know how much I knew and of course my knowledge led me to bankruptcy in all aspects of my life. Today I know my walk means so much more than my knowledge or talk.
In the scripture above the tax collector openly admits to God he is a sinner and asks for his mercy. In that moment all the tax collector knew was that he was sinning and felt the desire to surrender and ask God for forgiveness. For his willingness to act upon what he knew, Jesus placed the tax collector ahead of the Pharisee that professed to be doing everything right, because the “humble are exalted.”
Bottom line…God could care less about what we know, he cares more about what we do with what we know. “Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.” James 3:13 (NIV).
P.E.A.C.E.
Jay@EagleLaunch.com
