Luke 18:10-14
                                                                The Pharisee and the Tax Collector.
Ah yes!  Here is the story of ego. This is the story of our Fathers view of people who think they are all It.  Both men would be seen as well established.  At the time tax collectors were see as very rich men.  They would be given an amount from the Romans to collect.  They would then go out and collect higher amounts keeping the excess for them. Legal robbery was what it amounted to.   This particular Tax collector was touched by the Holy Spirit in a way that drove him to repent in sack cloth and ashes.  Christ tells his followers that this man went away justified.  However, as we look at the Pharisee we see just the opposite.  We see a person who is totally wrapped up in his self importance.  He sees himself as important before our Father.  He thanks our Father for making him great.   His self importance just does not wash with Fathers views, making him very wrong, and not justified in the least.  The man who went away justified was the one who was truly repentant. That was of course the tax collector.  When Father puts us in positions of authority we must remember for whose glory it’s for.  Not ours but his.  We must remember that our Father has one purpose. That purpose is the expansion of his Kingdom which is done by bringing men/women back into fellowship with him.  This is accomplished through the sacrifice of His Son the Christ by the Holy Spirit touching lives and bringing people to a state which their sins are washed and once again puts us into a holy state which is needed for entry into the Holy of Holies.  Remember this.  We must be speaking with those around us in a way that will draw them to our Father in heaven through the Son by the Spirit.  We must do so with a mind set of the tax collector.  That will keep us focused on who is really in control…
Go in peace
Michael