A Thought

“Jesus said, ‘Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  But go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice’.  For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.’”  Matthew 9:12-13

Jesus is quoting Hosea 6:6 in telling the self-righteous crowd there is little He can do for them since they are already a little too full of themselves and their lineage to Abraham, Moses, and the Law.  The context of the Hosea passage says it best: “Your faithfulness is like a morning cloud, and like the early dew it goes away”. 

Declaring our own righteousness is, in a word, dangerous.  It is spiritually risky that we would on any level declare that we have already reached the pinnacle of our faith and have done all we need to do.  It is sort of like making the minimum payment due on a credit card.  An obligation has been fulfilled, but the debt still exists.  Simply “going to church” may meet the “minimum due”, but this act alone – like the ‘sacrifices’ (religious practices) disavowed by the Lord – does in no way fulfill all righteousness.  It’s a good start, but the journey must never end.  Not there, and certainly not in this lifetime.

Rather than to declare our own “wellness”, let us never find ourselves so “well” that we no longer feel a need for the Savior of the World.  Let us stay well and maintain our spiritual health by following the Great Physician’s orders; consistently and faithfully.  It is the “Way” (John 14:6) to which Jesus Himself testifies.

Blessings,

Michael