Daily Devotion 28 February 2026

St Matthew 23: 1 – 12
 
Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, ‘The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practise what they teach.  They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on the shoulders of others; but they themselves are unwilling to lift a finger to move them.  They do all their deeds to be seen by others; for they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long.  They love to have the place of honour at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues, and to be greeted with respect in the market-places, and to have people call them rabbi.  But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all students. And call no one your father on earth, for you have one Father—the one in heaven.  Nor are you to be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Messiah.  The greatest among you will be your servant.  All who exalt themselves will be humbled, and all who humble themselves will be exalted.
 
Reflection

Sometimes it can seem that no-one else does anything.  We can feel that we have far too heavy a burden and it is impossible to continue.  We probably can do little about these burdens but what we can do is make sure that we are not the people laying burdens on others.  Before we ask someone else to do something we should prayerfully consider if we could do it ourselves. 

Sometimes I hear about people who do so much and do it quietly so very few people know what they have done, these people are nothing like the scribes and Pharisees that Jesus criticised.  They quietly use their time and skill to do things that need to be done, it might be making the tea and coffee after a church service, it might be polishing the brass around the pulpit, it might be visiting a sick person or sending regular “thinking of you” cards to a housebound church member.

We have one true teacher and He is Jesus.  We need to rely upon Him to guide and direct us.  Others might criticise us for what we do, or fail to do, but as long as we know we are doing what Jesus wants us to do we are doing well.  We need to listen to our one teacher who is our Messiah.
Let’s do what we know we need to do quietly and humbly, not looking for praise or thanks from anyone except Jesus who sees exactly what we do and think.  Let us be humble and work as well as we can, doing what we know we should be doing and knowing that even when we do an apparently trivial task, as long as we are obeying Jesus we will be exalted.

Prayer

Loving God, I thank you for all you do for me
show me what you want me to do
and what you want me to leave undone.
Help me to serve you as I should,
in Jesus’ name,
Amen