“Woe to you experts in the law, because you have taken away the key to knowledge. You yourselves have not entered, and you have hindered those who were entering.” — Luke 11:52

Jesus talked about two men who went to the temple to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other, a tax collector. The Pharisee, knowing all the laws of God, stood up and prayed about himself, saying, “God, I thank you that I am not like other men – robbers, evildoers, adulterers. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. I thank you, God, I’m not like other men or even like this tax collector” (Luke 18:11-12).

In Jesus’ day, tax collectors were the worst of the worst. They were accountable to the Roman government for the money they collected, but were not accountable to the people from whom they collected the money. Many took a huge margin for themselves and were widely known as thieves. The Jewish people considered them traitors to Judaism for even serving the Roman government and the New Testament gives them a category all their own. There were sinners and “tax collectors”.

One of the biggest impediments to spiritual growth is a lack of true repentance. Once you violate basic integrity and honesty, it becomes easier to open and go through any corrupt door that’s available to you because the disposition of your heart had not been converted. It is the Pharisee who does that! The tax collector didn’t have a checklist to run off before God. He was guilty of every sin and he knew it. Instead, he stood at a distance, not even looking up to heaven, smote his breast and said, “God be merciful to me, a sinner” (Luke 18:13).

Which of these two men went home justified? “I tell you,” Jesus said, “that this man (the tax collector), rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled and he who humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 18:14). God has absolutely nothing to offer us when we stand before Him, ticking off a checklist of all the ways in which we’ve adhered to His laws, but He has everything to offer the one who comes humbly before Him and cries out, “God, be merciful to me, a sinner.”

Prayer: Dear Heavenly Father, I echo the words of the tax collector. “be merciful to me, a sinner.” I know how sin offends you and violates your purposes yet you forgive me day after day. Thank you for the humbling awareness that our sin is exchanged for your righteousness and our weakness is exchanged for your strength. Amen.

To reflect upon: Have I ever made a kind of mental checklist where I’ve thought to myself: I’ve prayed today. I read the Bible today. I helped someone today. Did God take notice? Was He pleased? OR do I say, “Thank You, Lord, for enabling me to do these things and please continue this good work in me?