SHARING BREAD
6 He replied, “Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written:
“‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
7 They worship me in vain;
their teachings are but rules taught by men.’
8 You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to the traditions of men.”
Mark 7:6-8 (NIV)
Responding to the Pharisees question on why His disciples did not live “according to the tradition of the elders”, Jesus refutes the religious leaders of that day by proclaiming that God was more interested in the motive behind the action rather than the action itself. One can honor God with his lips but his heart may be filled with all sorts of envy, greed, anger, rage, malice, slander and wickedness. Jesus calls this futile, purposeless and useless. God is concerned with the heart. He always has been;
7 But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”
1 Sam 16:7 (NIV)
Man considers the outside. God is concerned with the heart. Scripture tells us we are to beware of choosing what is important to man over what is important to God. We may be very pleasing to man – the world may think we are very religious – yet our hearts are far from God. We must beware; this is easy to succumb to. Paul states in Galatians:
10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.
Gal 1:10 (NIV)
Remember, God delights in an obedience that is backed by a heart whose motivation is pure.
9 The heart is deceitful above all things
and beyond cure.
Who can understand it?
10 ”I the LORD search the heart
and examine the mind,
to reward a man according to his conduct,
according to what his deeds deserve.”
Jer 17:9-10 (NIV)
This is what I glean from this:
· Don’t worry about what man thinks be concerned about what God thinks – we all live Coram Deo – before the face of God.
· Prayerfully search your own heart to honestly decipher the motive behind the action.
· Remember the heart is deceitful. Don’t be surprised if the Holy Spirit convicts – just change (repent).
· Ask God for a heart like His.
