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Isaiah 10:5-19
2 Peter 2:17-22
Matthew 11:2-15
2
Peter 2:17-22: This
passage describes how people who are imposters of others not only hurt others
with the false knowledge they give out, but how they hurt themselves even
more. These people know what wrong they
are doing, yet continue to go on with it.
Those who impersonate teachers “bring in destructive opinions” (2:1).
These people do not know what awaits them later in life, which is “the
deepest darkness” (2:17). The people who
have just cleansed themselves by leaving behind others “who live in error” (2:18)
are sadly drawn right back into the same evil by these imposters. These false prophets make others believe they
will have their freedom and happiness, when in reality these false prophets are
“slaves of corruption” (2:19) and
unfortunately, they do not even know it.
If these imposters had not known the way of the righteousness to begin
with, then it would be a lot better than what they have done now, for it is
worse for them to know the good word and still go against it, especially when
this good word comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Their fate and path would be much different
if only they had not decided to follow the wrongful path. Pretending to be something we are not is not
the way God made us to be. He wants us
to be our own person, and if one has to pretend to be something they are not,
then there is much for the person, yet still to learn.
Matthew
11:2-15:
In this scripture, Jesus
goes to proclaim how great a man John the Baptist is. Jesus calls John the Baptist a prophet, and
even “more than a prophet” (11:9). Jesus
believes that all that John has done makes him a man who is more than a
prophet. Jesus continues to say how no
other man born of a woman has “arisen greater than John the Baptist” (11:11), which is true because of the things he
has done to help others. Jesus sends
back the good news to John for him to interpret in his own way. And Jesus knows that John will understand the
message that Jesus has conveyed back to his disciples. Any good deeds that John had done, Jesus took
into consideration and examined them closely.
He appreciated it all and this led him to praise John the Baptist so
much.
Prayer:
Dear
Lord, help us to remain our own person and stick behind all that we believe
in. Never let us stray away from our own
personalities to become someone else.
Always help us to be true to ourselves. Let us also understand what good we are to do
with our lives. Help us to keep our heads
straight and always make the right decisions that we know God would want us to
make. Let our decisions help others in
their lives, too, just as John’s actions helped Jesus to recognize him. Amen.
Aanchal Singh
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ADVENT 2007
Epworth United Methodist Church