Keys to obedience

 

 

READ Matthew 13-16

These chapters contain so much that condensing them into a few words is a challenge. First, the records show that the neighbors where Jesus grew up saw Him only on a human level and were offended when He spoke of spiritual matters. He knew that “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household.” And he did not do many mighty works there, because of their unbelief. (Matthew 13:57–58)

I should not be surprised that those who know me well are hard to reach. Unless God opens their eyes to the reality of what God has done in my life, all they see is my dad was a farmer, my mother’s and siblings names, and are mystified about anything ‘Christian’ in my life. Because this was true for Jesus, it is certainly true for me.

Jesus relied on the Father for everything. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone . . .  (Matthew 14:23) This is God in human flesh and He prays. Whatever makes me think that I could do anything without speaking with my Father?

Jesus also pointed out the hypocrisy of keeping Christian traditions while breaking God’s commandments. “For God commanded, ‘Honor your father and your mother,’ and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If anyone tells his father or his mother, “What you would have gained from me is given to God,” he need not honor his father.’ So for the sake of your tradition you have made void the word of God. You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “ ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ ” (Matthew 15:3–9)

Tradition is so ingrained and hard to recognize. To avoid this trap, I must know and obey God’s commands lest I miss doing something vital by being preoccupied with trivia, or worse with selfish choices that override what the Lord is telling me to do.

Related to this are external rules that well-meaning Christians sometimes impose on each other in order to avoid sin. Do this, don’t do that. However Jesus said, “What comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person . . .” (Matthew 15:17–20) Don’t get caught up in rules and forget to confess the sins of my heart!

This is the nitty-gritty of the Christian life — being honest about the source of my sin and being willing to admit to Jesus, and to others if necessary, that any wrong actions that I do, and even some that look okay on the surface, come from anti-God attitudes and ideas. Over the years, I’ve noticed how people avoid talking about motivations. I don’t want to be like that. The Bible says about itself:

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12–13)

The phrase “discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart” is the kicker. Reading the Bible means giving God the tool that He uses to expose my motivations to me. From His Word, I know if I am operating with self-centered and sinful intentions. Otherwise they are subtle and easily excusable. How dangerous to stop reading, stop taking it to heart, stop looking for ways to please God besides doing what He says. Without dealing with the attitudes of my heart, there is no hope that I can stop or even cover-up the stuff that Jesus Christ died for, the stuff that He is working to cleanse that I might be more like Him.

Besides exposing sin, the Word also tells me the alternatives — what the Lord will do with me as I learn to quit trying to run my own life. Obedience is impossible without His input!