Luke 13:2-3 Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”

This was a shocker of an unexpected response! This was in terms of people being deliberately killed, and then Jesus doubled down and said the same thing about what could be called an accidental disaster. This is hardly the sort of “sweetness and light” that many people today seem to be demanding of Christians and the Bible! At times, Jesus could be as blunt as anything, but never without love. He used these incidents to call people to repentance, which we tend to forget He did from the very start of His ministry. (Mark 1:15) It is a sad fact of human nature that when bad things happen to other people, part of our response is relief that it didn’t happen to us, and we are quick to morph that into feeling we are somehow better than they are or were. Jesus is clearly saying here that’s not the case. The point is to have compassion on those suffering and gratitude that we don’t all get precisely what we deserve. Conceit is dangerous at any time, but it is particularly so in moral terms. Jesus’ biggest fights were with the Pharisees, precisely because they thought they were better than others because they kept specific external rules, all the while ignoring the state of their own hearts. That’s exactly what Jesus was warning against here. Every one of us needs the humility to let God be our judge, knowing that we have no real claim to innocence apart from the shed blood of Jesus Christ. The message of the cross is good news precisely because it proclaims that our debt is paid, but that applies only when we acknowledge that we had the debt in the first place.

I am all too familiar with spiritual pride, having wallowed in it more than I care to remember. I remember thinking specifically that any church I walked into was blessed, because I had come! That degree of hubris is amazing even for me to remember! Any humility I have now, and for that matter, anything commendable, is only by the grace of God, because on my own, I’m a mess. I have countless blessings and advantages, but I can’t take personal credit for any of them. I didn’t choose my genetics, my home environment, or really, the vast majority of my life experiences, but I am accountable for what I do with who they have made me to be. Another person with the same opportunities could well have done far better! As has been said many times, we can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our response to it. I need to respond in humility and gratitude to everything, because only then will it all be the blessing God intends it to be, for me and for those around me.

Father, thank You for Your truly amazing grace. Thank You for the skill of the doctor two days ago who took the four samples for biopsies, and, and for the good report yesterday when those bandages were changed. Thank You that my healing is so rapid that I was able to work in the yard and garden yesterday afternoon. I do pray for accurate results from the biopsies, and for Your health for me for as long as You intend to keep me here. It is just over two weeks until our 40^th anniversary of the church, and there are various things I should already have taken care of. Help me follow through with each one, so that everything will happen as You intend, blessing all participants and giving You glory. Thank You. Praise God!