Thank You, Father, for the absolutely beautiful day! From the stars shining brightly as I headed to the bus compound, to the glorious sunrise during my first route, to the brilliant blue sky this afternoon – all gifts from Your loving hand! Praise You!

Mark 7:1-8 (<<click to read the passage)

I have noted before that Jesus had the utmost of patience with “sinners”. He had all the time in the world for those who did not know or truly understand Him. But for those who should have known Him – those who were well versed in the Scriptures and the Law – He had no patience whatsoever. I guess we could say he had a zero-tolerance policy!

At this point in His ministry, the Jewish religious leaders of the day and Jesus had already butted heads several times. Whatever patience Jesus may have had initially is long gone and He does not hesitate to quickly lay them out!

“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.” vs.6-8

My Life Application Study Bible sums it up pretty well.

“Hypocrisy is pretending to be something you are not and have no intention of being. Jesus called the Pharisees hypocrites because they worship God for the wrong reasons. Their worship was not motivated by love but by a desire to attain profit, to appear holy, and to increase their status. We become hypocrites when we (1) pay more attention to reputation than to character, (2) carefully follow certain religious practices while allowing our hearts to remain distant from God, and (3) emphasize our virtues but others’ sins.”

Ouch! Did anyone else’s toes get stepped (stomped!) on? #2 is particularly prevalent in the church. How many step into church on a regular basis and their hearts are in no better condition spiritually than every other run-of-the-mill “sinner”. We are good at going through the motions but “our hearts…remain distant from God.” Pastors, elders, deacons, bishops and all the rest can be in the same spot – no one is exempt.

Lord Jesus, help us to truly come to understand You. Help us to own up to our hypocrisy and draw close to You so Your light will illumine all that needs to be addressed. Amen.

Apr 9th, 2019, Tue, 12:25 pm