The Gospel of Matthew

This devotional is written by Nikki Fisher. Nikki is studying at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in her third year of the Drama, Applied Theatre and Education course. Nikki has been at St Mary's since first year, (so about 2 years) coming from her home church in Southampton. She enjoys baking, crochet, painting, and theatre.

True and False Prophets

 15 "Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.

True and False Disciples

 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?' 23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'

You can rarely tell if an egg has gone bad until you crack it or by putting it in water; if it sinks its good, but if it is bad it'll float. They may look the same, but one might smell gross and give you a bad stomach. In this week's passage, the metaphor that Matthew uses of "A wolf in sheep's clothing" for describing true and false leaders, I feel is very similar to this egg analogy. As although you can't tell on the surface which is which, for the "proof is in the pudding"; in a cake for example, if the egg is rotten, the whole cake tastes off. If a director of a play takes up the position to be impressive, the show may look exciting, but you can tell from the performers they look disengaged, passionless, and lacking energy. Whereas a director who works with a cast collaboratively, not interested in boosting their own notability, but for creativity and art, enthusiasm and drive is revealed, and so the performers and the show grow from strength to strength. So, coming back to my egg. If I try to be impressive and crack it with one hand, its more than likely some shell is going to go in, but if I simply crack the egg, its more than likely that it will break even and no shell will go in, making the cake taste better. So, I pray that in my action that I'm not trying to please or impress others, or myself. But that I work humbly with the eggs that God gives me so that I can produce good cake.