Gnats and Camels

by Zeke Flores

You must admit, some of Jesus' word pictures are pretty funny. It’s humorous to imagine someone trying to filter out a tiny insect so their food will be clean, but open their mouth wide for a whole camel!

But the lesson in that funny image isn’t funny at all. For the Jews to whom Jesus spoke, they had fallen into the trap of enforcing the tiny details of their rules while ignoring the greater issues of honesty and integrity.

Christians can fall into the same trap in various ways. We can focus on one little personal conviction and keep the focus there while forgetting the overarching principles that are the foundations of our faith. Someone put it this way: We can major in the minors and minor in the majors.

Strain the gnats, sure, but don’t swallow the camel.

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!" (Matthew 23:23-24).