Matthew 11:20-30; Leviticus 13; Proverbs 25

“Then He began to rebuke the cities in which most of His mighty works had been done, because they did not repent:” (Matthew 11:20 NKJV)

Jesus expected, and still expects, people to respond to His message and His miracles. I don’t know if He was more angry or more frustrated as He rebuked those cities where He’d performed many of His miracles and did much of His teaching. All that teaching and all those miracles, and they didn’t make a difference in the lives of the people who experienced them. He made it clear how He felt when He compared them to “those” cities who had suffered greatly from God’s judgment in the past. Some today would teach a relationship with Jesus based on a grace that calls for nothing to change in our lives because God loves us just the way we are. While God loves us just like we are, His grace compels us to repent from our sins and seek His wisdom in our everyday life. God has expectations. He doesn’t demand perfection of course, but He works by building His relationship with us, and then our lives change because we don’t want to disappoint Him. We can do nothing to bring about our salvation, but we repent and turn from our sins because we love God so much that we want to please Him.

Did you please God with how you lived today? Too often, when we look over our days, we think about our mistakes and the things we did wrong. I could be wrong, but I think God is pleased with progress as we grow in our relationship with Him. Did you learn something new today? Something that helped you understand something you hadn’t known before about God? About His world? Did you sense His presence in a difficult time? Even though He’s always with us, it’s too easy to forget that He’s around, especially in difficult times. Did you avoid those things that distract you from being with God? Those are the things that make God smile. Those are the things that make you relationship with God stronger.

Lord, I’m not perfect, but You knew that when we got together. Thank You for leading me to repent of my old way of life and helping me to grow in my relationship with You.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.