TODAY IS…

a good day to ask the question, “Am I giving to God as good as I get?”

“These people honor Me with their lips but their hearts are far from Me.”  Matthew 15:8 NLT

When Jacob deceived his brother Esau, as well as their father, to steal Esau’s birthright, there is no indication that Jacob’s conscience caused him to lose a moment of sleep over the deception.

When Laban deceived Jacob on his wedding night and substituted the older daughter, Leah, for Rachel, whom Jacob had fallen in love with and been promised, Jacob was enraged upon discovering the deception.

“So it came about in the morning that, behold, it was Leah! And he said to Laban, ‘What is this you have done to me? Was it not for Rachel that I served with you? Why then have you deceived me?’” (Genesis 29:25 NASB).

Jacob’s hypocrisy is apparent. It was alright for him to be deceitful, but when deception was used on him, it was a different story.

It is doubtful that there are many of us who would stand up and willfully say, “I am a hypocrite!”

Most who say one thing and do another are either blind to the fact, or simply do not acknowledge that type of behavior as being hypocritical.

How many of us know men who would not hesitate to flirt dangerously with women at work or in bars while “out with the boys,” but would certainly be enraged if they even thought that their wife was engaging in similar behavior? How many marriages are destroyed, and families broken up, over hypocritical behavior?

Pretending, or saying, that we have a certain belief when in fact we do not act in a manner consistent with that belief is hypocritical. It is wrong for us to be that way with our families, our friends, co-workers – in fact, anyone, anywhere.

Now consider our relationship with God. Are we giving God as good as we expect from Him? We pray to God with expectations that He will respond in a positive manner to our requests. We want God to always treat us right.

We want consistency.

But do we give Him the same thing, or do we exhibit hypocrisy in the way we live our lives? Do we honor God with our hearts as well as with our words? Do we ask God to shower us with love and help us with our problems and then turn around and deny our love to those around us and withhold our ability to help from them?

There is a little bit of a hypocrite residing in each one of us. How big a part hypocrisy plays in who we are can only be determined by honest introspection. Ask God to help you identify those areas where you may be a little hypocritical.

It takes a lot of work for any of us to say that we give to God as good as we get, and today is a good day to start.

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Taken from “TODAY IS….A Gift From God”, (C) 2013 Tony Casson