Introductory Thoughts
The Bible-believing student rejects any notion of coincidences within scripture. He chooses rather to believe that every word of God was specifically chosen by the Lord to convey His intended message. In today’s passage, the Lord revealed the root of the hypocrite’s problems—he is likened to “all that forget God.” The hypocrite is a person who presents himself one way, when in reality, he is altogether something far different than the perception he imitates. For instance, he may fast to convey the message that he loves the Lord, but his spirituality is only a façade for men to see. He may pray, but does so to be heard by men. In the end, his greatest problem is that he has forgotten that the all-seeing, all-knowing God knows the difference between heartfelt actions and hypocrisy.
Devotional Thoughts
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(For children): Whatever we do should be done for the Lord (Colossians 3:22-23). The Pharisees seemed religious but their hearts were not right because they simply desired the praise of men (Matthew 6:2; Matthew 23:5a). Jesus compared them to dirty cups (Luke 11:39) and whited sepulchres (Matthew 23:27-28).
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(For everyone): In what way does a hypocrite forget God? Who becomes the focus of the hypocrites attention rather than God? How does it ultimately cause him to fall?
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Whom should we seek to please? How would a desire to please God change how we live? How would it affect the parts of our lives not seen by men?
Prayer Thoughts
- Ask the Lord to help you seek to please Him.
- Ask God to guard you against forgetting Him.
Song
TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS
