Modern Day Pharisee Thirst Trap?

“And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.”

Matthew 6:5

The word, “Pharisee.”

It brings up an image, doesn’t it?

And not a positive one.

What do we think of when we hear the word?

How much do you and I inhabit that word?

You and I may be offended by that question. We may think that it’s ridiculous.

After all, many of us can state that we are not members of the clergy. We are not in highfalutin positions of power.

Most of us… “just work here,” right?

We would like to think that we are not hypocrites.

“Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.”

Matthew 23:28

In recent years, pop culture has introduced a phrase: “thirst trap.”

This phrase refers to someone who is so desperate for attention, especially online, that he/she will post/say/do/film anything for attention.

The controversial site, “Only Fans” is a potential example of “thirst trap,” in its extreme measures of attempting to garner attention… and money.

But “thirst trap” is more insidious for you and me, isn’t it?

We are all a little guilty of posting/saying/doing something to get attention.

We are all a little “thirsty.”

So, maybe the case can be made.

Social Media Sites: The New Pharisee?

At least, the new stomping grounds of the... thirsty… Pharisee?

“Everything they do is for show. On their arms they wear extra wide prayer boxes with Scripture verses inside, and they wear robes with extra long tassels.

Matthew 23:5

“Everything they do is just to show off in front of others. They even make a big show of wearing Scripture verses on their foreheads and arms, and they wear big tassels for everyone to see.”

(Contemporary English Translation)

Doesn’t that sound a bit like social media nowadays?

Why are we doing what we are doing?

Why do we post photos, comments, and everything we can post?

Does the world need to know what our meal looks like? Does the world need another selfie from our mugs?

Why are we thirsty?

“Motives are weighed...”

“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD (Elohim).”

Proverbs 16:2

Great. Heart issue stuff.

“For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Matthew 6:21

Bumping RIGHT into it.

What Has Our Heart?

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”

Proverbs 4:23

Alright, so first we have wild hearts that cannot exactly be counted on. Again, it sounds offensive to be viewed that that.

Nevertheless…

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?”

Jeremiah 17:9

It’s a great running start.

Therefore, if we have this wicked, unreliable, even, heart, how can we truly expect we will have right motives? It goes beyond posting something on Instagram. It cuts to relating to Him.

You know… HIM? The Big Him. The Most High.

“For their heart was not right with Him, neither were they steadfast in His covenant.”

 Psalms 78:37

“But” you and I may counter, “I just want to post photos of my vacation.”

Uh-huh.

I get it.

We all post pics of what we’re doing, what we’re eating, our pets, and our smiling faces.

What’s the spiritual state of our hearts as we do that?

I am interrogating myself here, too. I’m not just throwing stones at other people’s glass selfies.

When you and I post…anything, what is the REAL story going on here?

The fabulous vacation?

(We fought with our family the entire trip).

The scrumptious meal?

(We couldn’t afford it, and had to max out a credit card, just to order it. So that we could post about it online).

The adored pet?

(Still not housetrained. We regret getting the critter. And we are constantly deep cleaning our carpets).

And what about our smiling selfies?

(We feel dead inside. We feel ugly. We spent the last hour just trying to find the right filter to edit our appearance, making us look thinner, more attractive… and “happy”).

In Pharisee language, our online presence is like that of the long flowing robes, the impressive tassels, and the strut the Pharisee gives in the Sanctuary.

“Look at me! Look at how great I am!”

Reality?

“‘Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence.

Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.

Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.’”

Matthew 23:23-28

We are “white-washed tombs” (Matthew 23:27).

Who sees and smells the decay already?

Smells like… Hypocrisy.

We may not wear robes, have tassels, or strut in a Sanctuary lately, but we post hypocrisy, don’t we?

Just a little bit?

“Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;”

1 Timothy 4:2

Our posts “speak lies in hypocrisy?” Yikes.

So, our wicked, hypocritical hearts are posting. It’s one thing to “fool the public.”

You and I may do that, with varying degrees of success.

For instance, take yours truly here.

I would love to look like the Beauty and the screen siren, Rita Hayworth, right now, as I type these words…

More accurately, right now? I’m paraphrasing, substituting “reading” for “writing” from this little gem right here…

Yep.

Weird bun. I’m writing this with a weird bun. Too weird to capture as a still image.

(Looking out for your emotional health today. You’re welcome).

Plus, I am not having a cute day.

Anyway…

We can fool the public, maybe, some of the time.

But what about The Most High?

“He answered and said…prophesied of you hypocrites…‘This people honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.’”

Mark 7:6

He sees our metaphorical weird buns; He sees our appearance. He knows what we just posted, tried to get attention.

Like my little Rita Hayworth Thirst Trap.

Guilty!

Again…

“All a person’s ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the LORD (Elohim).”

Proverbs 16:2

Why am I writing and posting what I am writing, right now?

To get attention?

“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD (Elohim), as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”

Proverbs 21:1-2

Yep. That’s there. I admit it.

Dear Reader, please pay attention to me.

Tricky heart. Yep. I have one. How about you?

And, before I am completely cavalier, not treating the heart issue stuff as serious, something we need to pay attention to, in all sincerity, let’s trot to this scripture…

“Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, and the pride of thine heart, O thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, that holdest the height of the hill: though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the eagle, I will bring thee down from thence, saith the LORD (Elohim).”

Jeremiah 49:16

Yep, it can tip over into this.

I have tipped. How about you?

It is, furthermore, not comforting to think about being brought down.

Pharisee... Hypocrisy… Pride of Heart… Deception… Posting…

Left unchecked, it could go there? Really?

Uh, yep. Caution. Slippery heart roads ahead.

So now what? What do we do?

Beyond lofty advice? What can you and I do here?

Delete all social media counts? Never post again?

Not necessarily.

Getting Sprung from the Thirst Trap?

“The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD (Elohim), as the rivers of water: He turneth it whithersoever He will. Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”

Proverbs 21:1-2

So, we see, according to scripture, that ultimately, He, not us, oversees our hearts, even as wild, tricky, and rotten as they may be. HE turns and alters hearts in any way He chooses to turn and alter them. All while doing this, The Most High is precisely and unfailingly aware of our heart state.

So, that’s sobering and encouraging. None of us are calling the shots here.

Let’s go deeper still with these hearts and their postures.

“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of (YAH) God of great price.”

1 Peter 3:4

Our hearts physically, externally, are hidden from view, unless something extreme, like heart surgery, opens us up and exposes them.

Most of the time, however, our physical hearts are hidden from everyone and everything… except Elohim.

What if we take that in?

What if we pause, even for a second or two?

“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of (YAH) God of great price.”

1 Peter 3:4

What if we pause and do a heart welfare check on ourselves?

Why are we posting this?

Whether or not we know that answer, He already does.

But, at least pausing, just a bit, we could do that, right?

Pausing is often quiet, isn’t it?

It doesn’t command a lot of attention, fuss, and noise.

What if we pause before we globally display images of our face, our pet, our relationship, or our salad?

“But let it be the hidden man of the heart, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of (YAH) God of great price.”

1 Peter 3:4

Perhaps we would rethink some stuff. Change our approach.

And maybe, we also wouldn’t completely derail our lives in the process.

“Post-Post Regret,” after all.

We have all had that cringe experience, haven’t we?

Pausing. Quieting down.

Being aware that HE is aware of our hearts. That can be a start of administering an antidote to the Pharisee mentality that lurks within us.

The Thirst Trap.

We can turn and admit we are thirsty for Him.

Psalm 63 Palette Cleanser: “I thirst for You…”

I proclaim this daily, because I need this daily.

It speaks to the yearning for Him.

This yearning cannot be replaced with any other substitute, including any other form of attention or validation from any other source.

We need to turn to Him.

After all…

“He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

John 7:38

Therefore, starting out Psalm 63, with verse 1…

“O (YAH) God, You are my (YAH) God;
Early will I seek You;
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.”

(I’m going to post the rest of it here. Let it quench our thirst)!

2So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.
8My soul follows close behind You;
Your right hand upholds me.

9But those who seek my life, to destroy it,
Shall go into the lower parts of the earth.
10They shall fall by the sword;
They shall be a portion for jackals.

11But the king shall rejoice in (YAH) God;
Everyone who swears by Him shall glory;
But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.”

Briefly notice. “...But the mouth of those who speak lies shall be stopped.”

That includes the Pharisee Thirst Trap posting.

But look at the benefits, outnumbering seeking Him?

That is much better than any “like” or comment from anyone else, isn’t it?

You and I need help when it comes to the social media, and this “modern age.”

Let’s pray for that help now.

Abba Father-

We come to You, in the Name of Yahshua.

You see that we need You.

We try to seek fulfillment and attention in so many different ways, including social media.

You know how we have operated in deceit, impure motives, and hypocrisy doing so. We act like a Pharisee.

Forgive us for that.

Help us to thirst for You. Help us to turn to You.

You will satisfy our needs.

Help us to pause, to wait, to turn to You.

Let even our social media posting glorify You and draw us closer to You.

Thank You for loving us, for meeting us where we are, and for helping us.

We receive it as finished, in Your Name.

Amen.

Gotta go for now. I’m going to post photos of my lunch. I’m kidding. I’m posting photos of my cat instead. Her name is Glory.

Feline Thirst Trap, Everyone! Enjoy!

Copyright © 2025 by Sheryle Cruse