JOHN SHIRK – Today’s Light Reflection is from Luke 18:9 to 14.

Jesus told this story to some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else.

Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people-robbers, evildoers, adulterers-or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’

But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’

Jesus said, “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”

This Light Reflection inspires us to confess our need for God’s mercy in the Year to Shine.

John Shirk

john@wjtl.com