January 22

When the Pharisees saw it, they said unto Him. — Matt 12:2

Some people are always watching others, to find fault in them. They seem to think that their business is to keep other people right, and so they forget to look after the wrong things in themselves. We should never forget that our first duty is to do right ourselves. We shall not have to answer for anybody else, but for ourselves we surely shall.

The Sabbath is given to be a blessing to us, not a burden. God does not want us to go hungry on His day. He desires mercy, not sacrifice. The Jews thought Jesus broke the Sabbath in healing the man with the withered hand. But Jesus told them that it was right to heal on the sacred day. It is right for physicians to continue on their rounds of mercy on the Sabbath, and for nurses to stay at their posts with their patients. We need not be afraid to entrust our lives to Christ, even if they are bruised and almost destroyed. No gentle, kindly surgeon ever had such skill in dealing with hurt lives, and He will restore us to beauty.