Today’s reading comes from Luke 10-12 follow the link provided here to read the ESV online.

In Luke 12, Jesus preaches hard against hypocrisy! What a gift it is for Him to expose our hearts. There are days where we might be prone to just go through the motions, put on a good exterior and sail through, but not today. Today, we come to the hard task of examining our lives. There is nothing that is truly hidden that God doesn’t know (12:2). We might fool each other for a while, or even fool ourselves into thinking it doesn’t matter, but it does.

Sometimes we are more afraid of what others will think of us than we are of offending the Lord. Jesus teaches us to fear God more than people. We fear on the one hand because He has the power and authority not only to demand our lives, but to cast us into Hell. On the other hand though, we should tremble, because He cares so much for us (12: 4-7). Anything that He beckons us to do, even to the point of giving up our lives, isn’t to hurt us, but to help us. So while trusting him may seem difficult, it is the best thing. He knows our worst and still offers grace and forgiveness in Christ.

Sometimes we are hesitant to confess or confront secret sins because we are afraid of how we will be perceived by other people. We let the fear of others rob us from the freedom of confession and repentance. A secret sin can fester in our hearts and cause us to by hypocrites in every area of our lives. We can place on a holy hat and try to side step the real sin issue that is eating us alive and in doing so we side step every issue down the line.

The best thing is for us is to be honest about the condition of our souls.  If we are to be made more and more into the image of Christ, we can’t play at being holy.  We must commit every area of our life to Him.  We must deal with reality. What a grace it is for Jesus to expose our hypocrisy now, because he gives us an opportunity to repent.

FATHER, thank you for the grace of hard words that cut right to our hearts. Thank you for caring for us enough to point out our secret sins. Thank you for the grace of repentance. Thank you that we don’t have to fear others and what they might do to us for following you, but that we get to follow you unashamedly. I pray that we would be bold in our witness today. Thank you for the grace to lead others. IN JESUS NAME, AMEN.