Matthew 7

This chapter is going to conclude Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, and as with the last couple it contains great wisdom from God. The 'Golden Rule' that is widely known in Western society has its origin here, in fact, in verse 12. The parable at the end, about men who built houses on different foundations, is also mentioned pretty often - at least among the Christians I grew up around.

There is one verse here which I have read before, but must confess I do not understand. Matthew 7:6 reads: "Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces." That seems to me like it could be saying not to share God's truth (what is holy / pearls) with those who are clearly not interested in hearing it... but that seems to run counter to Jesus' instructions later on to 'make disciples of all nations' (Matthew 28:18-20). I suspect there must be some other meaning, and I should make a note to look into it more later - or maybe ask pastor Ryan.

Verses 13 and 14 remind me of a very old book - Pilgrim's Progress. It is hard reading today, being written in pretty old English, but has a lot of cool analogies to the Christian walk... including the idea of narrow vs wide gates as mentioned here in Matthew.

Finally, the warning in verses 15-23 should be a sobering reminder to us all that not everyone who claims to follow Jesus truly does. We should each look at our own lives and see what sort of fruit we are bearing for Him, and at the same time that is one criteria we are given by which to judge those who are true Christians from those who are 'wolves in sheeps clothing'.