ARE YOU A HYPOCRITE OR WHAT?

by Barbara Chadwick

Recently I went to the emergency room.  During the time I was there and they were doing tests on me  EKG, blood test, etc. I couldn’t help hearing the conversation in the next cubicle. I was not trying to eavesdrop but the curtain was pretty thin!

The Dr. said, “You need to be careful about drinking alcohol. You’ve had two seizures in 24 hours. It would be a good idea to quit drinking altogether.”  He left and I heard her say, “I don’t want to quit drinking!”

Since that night I have thought about her statement several times and wondered what kind of woman  would not stop doing something that would ruin her health, to say nothing of her life.

I actually felt righteous. I would not drink alcohol and certainly would not continue to go against the Dr.’s orders.

So, my mind kept bringing that to my consciousness. Enough already!  Why must I keep remembering her? 

The Lord seemed to say to me, “What about all the cholesterol producing food you eat that the Dr. said you need to cut out?  What about the fact that you continue to eat when you’ve had enough? What about the time you spend playing computer solitaire that makes your hands hurt? What about the days you don’t exercise when the Dr. said you need to exercise six days a week? So are you a hypocrite or what?”

Jesus said,  Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye. Matthew 7:1-5