Devotionals

Does Jesus Say This to Us Today

by Martha Kinney
02/24/19
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Mark 7:6-8 New Living Translation (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.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”

            Read this in my Bible reading today and it made me stop in my tracks. I had to stop and consider if this is the Christian world today. We hear on the news of corruption in the clergy. We see the condoning of things that go directly against the Word of God. And we don't show tolerance for those who do not worship exactly like us.

            The Scripture teaches us to love the sinner but hate the sin. And we seem to not know how to separate the two. We feel we either hate them both or accept them both in the name of Christian love. It seems to me that we know how to show love to the alcoholic or the person who struggles with an addiction without condoning their behavior. That should be the practice with every one we meet. We are all sinners. Some of us have been saved by grace but that only means we know where others can find grace and forgiveness too.

            The world is becoming more and more hostile to Christianity and we are more and more going underground instead of standing up for our faith. Where would we be if the first Christians had blended into the culture of their day and buried their witness. I don't mean we need to be confrontational but we need to be open by our word and deed that Christ is in our lives. And be prepared to deal with ridicule.

            We are not defenseless either, God has given us two very powerful weapons. The first is His Word. If we want to use this weapon well we need to spend time knowing it and what it says. There are many promises in Scripture that says God will help us fight against evil, and sometimes will fight the battle for us.  There are many places where God says it is His battle. One such time is found in 2 Chronicles 20:15 This is what the Lord says to you: ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God’s. Whenever we face evil we can be sure God is there with us. We need to make sure we are with God.

            The second weapon is prayer. Prayer has moved heaven and earth many times. This too is a weapon we need to use in order to be effective with it. Check out the Battle of York where an unusual change in weather turned the tide in the battle for our freedom. I believe someone was praying for our country and God answered. Perhaps we don't see positive change today because we don't pray and invite God into the situation.

            That brings us full circle to the Scripture above. Have we, as Christians, learned how to act, and talk like a Christian, but our hearts do not belong to Christ? Have we gotten so wrapped up in the do's and don'ts that we have forgotten that Jesus only gave us two commands. Here is what Jesus said to fulfill the  law Luke 10:25-37 (NIV)  On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”  “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”  He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”

            The question we must each answer is do we love God completely and do we love others as Jesus did. Jesus did not condone sin but He did show mercy to the sinner. If we want to be true to our Christian faith we need to do the same.