Meditation:
On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not
prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and
do many mighty works in your name?' And then will I declare to
them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of
lawlessness.'
-- Matthew 7:22,23

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Quotation:
We of the churches often gather our robes away from
contamination, and thank God that we are not as other men. We
don?t despise God?s name; in fact, we call upon it constantly
to justify ourselves... If we object to meat-eating, we
declare that God is vegetarian; if we abhor war, we proclaim a
pacifist Deity. He who turned water into wine to gladden a
wedding is now accused by many of favoring that abominable
fluid grape juice. There can hardly be a more evil way of
taking God?s name in vain than this way of presuming to speak
in it. For here is spiritual pride, the ultimate sin, in
action?the sin of believing in one?s own righteousness. The
true prophet says humbly, "To me, a sinful man, God spoke."
But the scribes and Pharisees declare, "When we speak, God
agrees." They feel no need of a special revelation, for they
are always, in their own view, infallible. It is this self-
righteousness of the pious that most breeds atheism, by
inspiring all decent, ordinary men with loathing of the
enormous lie.
... Joy Davidman (1915-1960), Smoke on the Mountain [1955]