“And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will see well enough to deal with the speck in your friend’s eye.” Matthew 7:3-5 NLT

Jesus paints a graphic visual with this little object lesson. Imagine a guy with his eye gouged out by a wood chip standing in front of you with tweezers, saying, “Hey, need help getting that splinter out of your eye?” The idea is not only ridiculous, but disturbing. He can’t possibly see through the damaged tissue, not to mention the obstruction of the wooden fragment, to carefully remove a tiny speck from your eye! He’s simply not qualified to perform that sort of precise and delicate work.

You know the people who exemplify this kind of hypocrisy. They are so convinced of their own well-being that they feel competent to offer counsel or criticism to others. While it may be perfectly obvious to us, they are blinded to the reality of their own shortcomings or sins. They sit back in their created world of illusionary perfection and dispense opinions graciously to those they view in need.

No one is without sin. But it’s a lot easier to take advice from some who practices what they preach. The coward may teach of bravery or a liar of truth, but their messages are invalidated by the speaker’s lifestyle.

It is wise for all of us to pray with the same humility and courage as David: “Search me, O God, and know my heart… Point out anything in me that offends you…” And if you speak with the voice of experience, it is better to confess it than to risk looking like a hypocrite.

“And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” I Corinthians 15:14 NLT

When I was young, my family would visit my grandparents in Tennessee each year for Easter. It was always a novelty to attend their church on Easter Sunday and listen to those Southern drawls and hear, “Ya,ll come back now!” They had a large “choir” that consisted of anyone in the congregation who wanted to sit in the front of the church and sing, no practice required. They were loud and off-key as they belted out those hymns of triumph in their Southern accents, full of genuine enthusiasm and excitement for the greatest victory of all time.

Now, as an adult, there’s always something lacking to me in the restrained and organized worship of Easter morning. The unique flavor and zeal of that Southern choir will always stand out in my memory when I hear, “Up from the grave he arose, with a mighty triumph o’er his foes!” Their preacher would jump up and down behind the pulpit as he proclaimed, “Christ is RISEN!” like it had just happened that very morning.

I wish that each spring I could personally reclaim that fresh passion for the resurrection. For every tenet of our faith hangs upon it. If Christ was only a prophet who lived and died, our faith is useless. If we believe that he did, in fact, rise from the grave victorious, we have a living faith worth celebrating! Because of Jesus’ death and resurrection, we have freedom from sin and the hope of salvation. That’s worth jumping about.

“Look here, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.’ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, ‘If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.’ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil.” James 4:13-16 NLT

Ask any high school graduate where they plan to be in twenty years. Check back in ten or fifteen, and how many of them will be anywhere in the vicinity of where they predicted? Perhaps a few. I can certainly say that the difference between the life I planned and the life I have lived is so contrasting as to be almost humorous. And embarrassing.

Why are we so arrogant and foolish as to believe that we can create the future simply by planning it? Of course, we create the future through the decisions we make each day. But so much is outside of our control: the choices and behaviors of others, the economy, our health… The best laid plans can be derailed or destroyed in an instant.

There is value in planning. There is no reward to living irresponsibly. However, what we plan and hope for is only possible if God allows it. I had it all planned out so clearly. Then I found myself humbled, broken, and rebuilt. Now I find myself at another crossroads where decisions must be made. I don’t know what doors God will open or what his plans for the next season will be.

As we plan for tomorrow, let us plan with humility, obedience, and surrender, knowing that each day is a gift from God and it is he who controls our destiny.