¹³Someone in the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me.” ¹⁴But He said to him, “Man, who appointed Me a judge or arbitrator over you?”  Luke 12:13-14

Most approach life earnestly believing the Lord is always on their side.  Naturally, they also believe they deserve preferential treatment.  Listen to people pray during a crisis, natural disaster, or impending armed conflict.  You will hear phrases like this: “God is on our side!  Our cause is His cause!  The enemy has been defeated because the Lord is for us!”

Now, let’s answer Jesus’ question – “Who appointed Him judge?”  The truth is His Father appointed Him judge. But for now, Jesus is not bringing judgment to anyone.  Jesus came “to seek and to save those who are lost.”  He is seeking to give life, not condemn lives.  When Jesus walked this earth did He ever issue a judgmental word or comment to anyone personally?  No!  He made plenty of prophetic warnings about future judgment.

What do you think?  Is Jesus currently judging you?  I hope your answer is “no”.

What are we doing when we ask Jesus for relief and to judge our situation?  Maturity is knowing your real motives and the purposes of God.  Jesus said “greed” was at work here and if greed got its way, it would force Jesus out of God’s perfect will and He would judge His followers before their time.  The same is true for all of us.  We need grace and mercy and we need to be issuing the same.

God has placed boundaries for Himself and desires us to do the same.  God’s boundaries call for grace, not condemnation.  Judgment will come in due season.  Ask the Lord to reveal your boundaries and give you help in discerning His.  A good place to start is ceasing to tell the Lord what good a Christian you are and honestly confess where you are failing and how much you need His grace to continue.  This is the type of relief we all need.

Blessings,

Pastor