Luke 6:37-49

Luke 6:37-49 (New Living Translation)

Do Not Judge Others

³⁷ "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven. ³⁸ Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back."

³⁹ Then Jesus gave the following illustration: "Can one blind person lead another? Won‘t they both fall into a ditch? ⁴⁰ Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher.

⁴¹ "And why worry about a speck in your friend‘s eye when you have a log in your own? ⁴² How can you think of saying, ‘Friend, let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can‘t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend‘s eye.

The Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ "A good tree can‘t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can‘t produce good fruit. ⁴⁴ A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. ⁴⁵ A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.

Building on a Solid Foundation

⁴⁶ "So why do you keep calling me ‘Lord, Lord!’ when you don‘t do what I say? ⁴⁷ I will show you what it‘s like when someone comes to me, listens to my teaching, and then follows it. ⁴⁸ It is like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock. When the floodwaters rise and break against that house, it stands firm because it is well built. ⁴⁹ But anyone who hears and doesn‘t obey is like a person who builds a house without a foundation. When the floods sweep down against that house, it will collapse into a heap of ruins."

Devotion (Mikey Skoglund)

Wow, what great advice from a guy who knows His stuff! You know I often think about how a lot of people don‘t like religion because its just following a big list of do‘s and don‘ts. Well, I‘d say by looking at this passage, those people would be right, that it seems like Christ came to give us a bunch of ‘thou shalts’ and ‘thou shalt nots’. But its not at all just a list of rules we‘re given to follow just to appease a mean God that‘s like our old high school principal. This is real, meaningful and helpful stuff for your life. And where in this passage does it say "Do not have fun, or do not enjoy your life"? Sure, that can be implied with any list of "don‘t do this", but actually, its quite the opposite in this passage. This passage gives us things to work on in our own hearts so that we can enjoy life, give abundantly, and receive blessings from God. And I mean really, who in their right frame of mind wouldn‘t want blessings from God? I‘m not talking about a brand new car falling from the sky (though I guess that could happen too), but I mean things that are actually lasting. I mean look at this one, if you forgive others, you will be forgiven. Wow. Now that is quite the gift. Or do not judge others, and you won‘t be judged. Or give and you will receive…the amount you give will determine the amount you get back. Its all right there. And one of my favorite parts of this passage is Jesus explaining to the people what its like when someone actually follows His teachings. "Like a person building a house who digs deep and lays the foundation on solid rock." Now I don‘t build houses, but I do know that having a solid foundation to your house is essential in holding it up. So that‘s how I want to set up my life, building a solid foundation by following the teachings and advice that Jesus gives.

Prayer

Lord, please help me to be a better follower of Your word and Your son Jesus. Help me to listen to His teachings and follow them and build my life on a solid foundation that will not fall apart in ruins. Thank You God for this life that You‘ve given me and give me the strength to follow You each and every day. Amen.