Today's Bible reading is the 16th chapter of the Book of Luke. You can read it here at Bible Gateway: http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2016&version=NASB

God purposed to use the scribes and Pharisees in many different instances during Jesus' life and ministry in teaching many lessons. When I consider this I can't help but rejoice in the truth of God's word that tells us that "all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable". We cannot deny the profitability of scripture; even the many negative things we see written about the scribes and Pharisees. In the 15th verse of today's passage Luke records Jesus as having spoken to the Pharisees, saying to them, “You are those who justify yourselves in the sight of men, but God knows your hearts; for that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable in the sight of God." In the flesh men are prone to justify themselves in the sight of other men. The Pharisees could justify themselves in the eyes of other men by engaging in certain religious practices. Heart and motive would be unknown to other men. Unfortunately we have no immunity from doing the same sort of thing in our day. In the Apostle Paul's second letter to the Corinthian church he spoke of those who measured or compared themselves by themselves and said that by doing so they were without understanding. We may be able to "justify ourselves in the sight of men" but God still knows the heart. We are not the standard by which we ought to measure or compare ourselves. Christ is the standard to which we have been admonished to fix our eyes on. By God's grace and through faith and the Spirit's work in our lives we can be privileged to have Christ live in us! For this we give Him the glory.