Noble counsel

Read > Luke 11:37-54

Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor and you will be clean all over (vv. 40-41).

I was recently reading about Ethelraed the Unready, a 10^th-century king of England. His nickname was a pun because Ethelraed meant “Noble counsel” while Unready meant “No counsel.” Sadly, actions from his poor advice were to cost him dearly.

As God’s inspired Word, the Bible offers us noble counsel. But there’s a danger: If we add to it or turn from it to take poor advice, we too can end up with “no counsel.”

In Luke 11:38, we see the astonished reaction of a Pharisee at Jesus’ perceived failure to observe the rules for external ceremonial purity. The Pharisee’s focus was on conforming to the outward signs of religiosity. That wrong focus brought a stinging rebuke from Christ as He laid bare the Pharisees’ love of unhelpful rules and regulations. Their original intent of being obedient to God and His commands was good. It was how they went about it that became the problem.

Instead of focusing on their relationship with God, they became legalistic. They didn’t want to risk being disobedient, so they set the boundaries for behaviour well back from the edge and demanded that others obey those regulations too. They wanted to appear pious (v. 43), but instead they caused people to stumble by their man-made rules. They placed tremendous legal requirements on the people, but they wouldn’t lift a finger to help them (v. 46). They set up such a fog of ill-advised regulations that people couldn’t understand the true meaning of the Law.

Jesus pointed out to the Pharisees that a person can keep all the external regulations and still be defiled (vv. 39-40). What’s really needed is to be right on the inside (v. 41). Before God, we need to be marked by hearts that are sincere in repentance, acceptance and love for God, and the faithful following of His true “noble counsel.” – Kevin Gregory

More >

·         Mark 7:5-13

·         Colossians 2:8-19

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What religiosity in your life do you need to deal with? What needs to change on the inside?