Treasured Vignettes
"And He said to them, 'Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from me. But in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men." 'Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men. He was also saying to them, 'You nicely set aside the commandment of God in order to keep your tradition.'" Mark 7:6-9(NAS)
After He quotes Isaiah, Jesus goes on to pointedly say that what is in the heart is what pollutes a person, not dirty hands or what they eat. That which contaminates the human spirit and soul are attitudes like hatred, greed, covetousness, lust, pride and unforgiveness which lead to actions like murders, deceptive dealings, carounsing, mean looks, adulteries, slanders, etc. We all are scizophrenic to some degree. We put on a mask to please man, to hide our true selves. People can be fooled, but God cannot. He sees straight through our fabricated facades to our hearts. He pierces the false pretense with His Truth, not to harm us (though it may feel like it at times) but to set us free. To set us free from those things that are deadly, free to live as His children, His beloved, holy ones. He sets us free to enjoy "every good and perfect gift" from Him. He sets us free to worhsip Him, to follow Him to life--life without end. Think about it.
© S.M. Hudson, Hidden Treasure Ministries, December 2003. All rights reserved.
Categories: heart, pretense, freedom
Labels: freedom, vignettes, worship
