Verse of the day: Mar 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man.
"For the LORD'S does not see as many sees;" 1 Sam 16:7. These are God's words to the Prophet Samuel in respect to how God sees man. While man looks, and judges, on the outward appearances, God looks deeper. God looks at the heart. He sees what is in man, and is more interested on what is in the inward parts, rather than what man tries to portray on the outside (which often contradicts what is really going on in the heart). Jesus confronted the Pharisees, and scribes, about this very thing. Sadly, we, as God's children, allow ourselves to be enslaved by other, well-meaning, believers' convictions, and religious rules and regulations. The Pharisees (religious leaders of that day) had added teachings based on their traditions, and gave their traditions and man created doctrines more weight than God's commandments. Even to the extent that they expected others to keep them; yet, they themselves could not follow them. Jesus called them hypocrites (Mk 7:6). God does not want our religious rituals, and lip service. Jesus wants our hearts. The only interest God has in our facades, is to break them down, and bring us to the place where we are honestly, and obediently, living for God, allowing Him to change us from the inside out. We must be careful not to impose our convictions on one another, as we all have differing convictions. The bottom line is that in Christ we are free. However, that freedom is the freedom that is to be used for God's glory. Our liberties are to free us for the purpose of serving God, and not a justification for continuing in sin. God's grace is not to be taken advantage of, and we should expect hard consequences when we misuse God's grace. The Pharisees were upset because Jesus' followers were not washing their hands before eating, as was their "tradition" (v.5). Jesus, in turn, rebuked their hypocrisy. Today, some are no different, criticizing, and condemning, those who "do not do" Christianity the way they "do" Christianity. As God's children, we must learn the difference between a conviction or preference, and what is black and white in God's Word. Jesus was very clear in that what defines us before God is what comes out of our hearts (v.21-23). Things such as evil thoughts, pride, adultery, fornication, covetousness, and the like, are what defile us before God. Jesus corrected them in their false thinking that eating without washing their hands, or eating a certain food would make them unclean (which for a Jewish person of that day would have been difficult to grasp since the Law restricted certain animals as food). Yet the Lord made it clear to Peter (Acts 10:9-15) that what God has cleansed must not be called common or unclean. So today, we must take care not to cause strife in the life of another believer by expected them to live by our self-imposed restriction or preferences (which may work for us personally in keeping us focused on Him). Let us ask God to conduct a "heart check" on us, and show us what is in our own heart. Let us seek to serve God, and live for Him, with a heart that is clean, rather than trying to wash ourselves outwardly by using the "right" Christian words, or doing the "proper" outward things that hide what is really in our hearts. Let us get honest with ourselves, and God, and allow Him to cleanse our hearts. Let us seek to live a holy life that is the result of a heart that has been changed by the Holy Spirit of God working in us. King David was a great example of how God judges who we are inwardly. Long before David committed the sin of adultery or sinned by taking the census, God called him a man after His own heart (1 Sam 13:14). In the New Testament, those words are reiterated in Acts 13:22. Why was King David a man after God's own heart? It is obvious that it was because of David's heart, and what God saw in him, and the fact that he had a heart that submitted to the will of God. Let us strive to be Christians who are a people after God's own heart, based on who we are on the inside (for who we are on the inside will eventually shine through to be seen on the outside). May it be to the glory of God.
Amen.
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