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Love for God

 

I was reading in the Gospel of Mark and just happened to come across the conversation that the Pharisees and Teachers were having with Jesus. It caught my attention. It wasn’t a pleasant conversation. There is a lot of tension here. It isn’t good. The religious leaders were challenging Jesus concerning his disciples failing to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating.
 
Jesus answers strongly, yet wisely in Mark 7:6-7 (NLT), “Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote, ‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.” 

The reality for us is that we can get so preoccupied with attending to religious things, that we become robotic and routine with our “obligations” to our faith and Church. Maybe it is like the saying “You can become so Heavenly minded that you become no earthly good.” We can get so caught up in our routines, laws, rituals, and traditions, that we “unplug” our minds from our hearts and just go through the motions. 

Jesus was reminding the religious leaders that their “heart wasn’t in it.” The had a “cerebral-faith” and not a “heart-faith” in service to God. Yes, knowledge is power, and it makes one wise, but it must also “go to the heart” to take root to invoke the desire to live out such knowledge and wisdom.

For example, God made Solomon the wisest man in the world. 1 Kings 3:11-12, “11 So God replied, “Because you have asked for wisdom in governing my people with justice and have not asked for a long life or wealth or the death of your enemies—I will give you what you asked for! I will give you a wise and understanding heart such as no one else has had or ever will have!” 

For a season, Solomon used his wisdom to build the temple of the Lord. Solomon was awed by God’s work in his life and lived to please Him. Sadly, Solomon’s heart did not remain with the Lord and slowly turned away. 1 Kgs 11:9, “The Lord was very angry with Solomon, for his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice.” He died trapped in idolatrous abominations, alienated from the Lord. He was only sixty years-old and was succeeded by his son, Rehoboam. 

Now, let’s back up just a bit. David, who was Solomon’s father, also received exceptional graces from God. His heart was also with the Lord and pleased Him. Acts 13:22, “After removing Saul, he made David their king. God testified concerning him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.’” 

To express his love for the Lord, David composed and sang many of the Psalms. However, David, like his son, Solomon, allowed himself to “disconnect” from his heart to stray from God. He not only committed adultery, but murder! Obviously, despite David’s devotion to the Lord, he had something very wrong in his relationship with the Lord. Yet, the time came when David re-engages his heart and his mind, together, and repented of his atrocities and sins and died in the Lord’s love. 

The lives of Solomon and David show that we can deceive ourselves about the quality and depth of our relationship with the Lord. While we honor the Lord externally (going through the motions), it is still possible to disengage our hearts, slip away, and become far from Him. We must make the time and put forth the effort to have a relationship with our Heavenly Father. James 4:8, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.” 

We are not alone. In fact, we can’t do this on our own. We need the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth, to guide us to all truth about the authenticity and purity of our relationship with the Lord. John 16:13, “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.”

We need seek and be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s guidance and direction. We must welcome the convicting sting of His guidance that warns us when we begin to compromise and lean back towards the ways of the world. John 16:8, “And when he [Holy Spirit] comes, he will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.”

This will not happen with just head knowledge. We must engage our hearts in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. This will not happen apart from Christ. It will require more of us than just attending church services on Sunday. Even beyond a weekly Bible study or mid-week service. Self-control. Commitment.

We must be making an investment into our relationship with Jesus each day and every moment in thought, word and deed. Our lives should be one of sacrifice, obedience, service, and a complete surrender to “self.” It is daily and moment by moment. Like Solomon, we can’t afford to slowly slip away. More like David, who realized he was heading in the wrong direction, repented, and returned to the Lord. We can do likewise.

 

 

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