Matthew 15:8, “This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.”
I grew up hearing these scriptures. I was always told, either you’re in or out, there’s no straddling the fence. Choose who you want to serve. It’s like when I was younger, and my siblings and cousins and I were always playing outside. We all tended to run in and out of the house all day, and it seemed like a lot because there were a lot of us. At some point or another throughout the day multiple adults would tell us to stop running in and out of the house. After not listening, someone’s mother (usually mine), or our grandmother would say, “Hey! Stop running in and out of this house! Either you stay in or out, make a choice.” Not wanting to come inside we would choose to stay outside.
The problem with this story and what upset the adults is that we kept running in and out, every five minutes a little kid was running through the house, then we would run right back outside. We couldn’t decide if we wanted to be apart of what was going on inside or play outside. How often do we do this to God, we are constantly in and out when it comes to having a relationship with Him. We are in when we really need Him, but out when we’ve gotten everything we need. We have to choose if we are going to be near God, or will we stray far from Him.
The heart doesn’t always agree with the lips.
I think it is safe to say that we have all said things that we do not really mean. We have used our words to cover up how we really feel. Our lips say one thing but our hearts say another. We’ve all lied to our mom or aunt before and told them something they cooked was good, even when it was horrid. I will use myself for an example, there was a time when I was telling everyone about how good God was and reading my bible constantly, and even preaching, but my life and my heart said something completely different. I honored God with my words but my heart was so far from it. (I am beyond grateful for grace and mercy, and that Jesus didn’t strike me down in my mess). We can all talk, as long as we have lips and a working voice box, but do our actions line up with our words? I could read the bible all day long, but if I am reading it just to show and people how good a Christian I am, is it even worth it? I can memorize every scripture back and forth but until I allow it into my heart and start living it, does it really matter how many scriptures I can quote? And I did, I did all of this, I memorized scriptures, read the entire bible, but in the end it was only to look like a better Christian, not actually be a better or different person. We have so many people who go to church and live so far away from God. Being a Christian is not a Sunday only thing, it is every day of our lives. It is more than saying, “I’m Christian.” or raising our hands during worship in church. We do not have to go around saying we are Christ followers, because our lives will speak for us. It is very true that actions speak louder than words. We cannot say we serve God, when we are living any type of way. We cannot claim to love and serve God when our hearts are far from Him. One thing about the heart is that it doesn’t lie, and eventually our hearts will show. We cannot avoid it or get around it. The question is, when your heart shows who you truly are, will you be embarrassed or ashamed of what comes to light? Or will you be happy to show your heart?
Hosea 6:6, I want you to show love,not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.
God wants us to show love over sacrifices. Seeing that this is a passage from the old testament, He is referring to the daily sacrifices and offerings of the israelites. But God says, I’d rather you show love, I’d rather you know me. A lot of times we think that what we do is pleasing to God. We think the amount of money we give, is enough. We think giving food to a homeless person is enough, or doing ‘good deed’ is enough. While those are all good, God says, I would rather have your heart, I would rather you know me. Some of us have or are walking around, serving in the church, without even knowing God, because we think our sacrifices of showing up early to church to volunteer is enough. But there is so much more, it goes deeper than just doing things just to do them. When we submit ourselves to God, every part of our life becomes a service to Him. We know God more and more everyday, we start to love like Him. And God is like, “I want that.” He wants that love, He wants us to truly know Him. He will take that anyday over our empty words that claim to praise Him.
Psalms 73:26-28, my flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. For behold, those who are far from you shall perish; you put an end to everyone who is unfaithful to you. But for me it is good to be near God; I have made the Lord my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
The scripture says that those who are far from God will perish. We as the body of Christ are on a constant search to bring these perishing souls to Christ. Sometimes we have to stop and take a look in the places where the Christians are, there are souls perishing from the pughs they sit in every Sunday. Asaph (writer of this psalm) then goes on to say, “It is good for me to be near God.” When we get a taste of what life is like to be near God, that’s where we want to be. We know it is safe to be in that place, near God is the best place to be. But we must make the choice to draw closer to Him. Serving God is so much more than just talking about Jesus, it’s living like Him, it’s allowing our words to match our actions. We cannot serve God and live far away from Him. It won’t work.
Reflection
- Does your heart agree with your lips?
- Would you say you are living near or far from God?
Prayer Time
Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today .Whatever stood out to you or struck you, talk to God about it. Maybe you are living far away from God, today is the day to draw near to Him. Maybe you know someone who is living far from God, lift them up in prayer today. Lift up the church and the body of Christ today that we will all be fully devoted to Christ every day of our lives.
I love you, I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Make sure you share this and come back tomorrow for Day 117!
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