CREDIT: vijaymverna on FLICKR
Dear First Friends and Family,
I do enjoy a good, juicy tomato. Unfortunately, they can be hard to find sometimes. Too often, I see tomatoes that look delicious – red, smooth, vine still attached. I start to salivate. I cut a piece. I pop it in my mouth … YECCH! Dry and tasteless! Clearly picked too early and allowed to redden on the way to the store. Good thing I can usually grow my own! Then I know for sure the nice exterior points to the all-important tasty inside too – fully ripened, inside and out.
Jesus cautions us all about the need to fully ripen, inside and out as His disciples – a life in Christ is more than just looking good. The Pharisees often accosted Jesus for not following their 600+ man-made rules for life. These rules, while based on aspects of God’s word, weren’t God’s word.
In and of themselves, there was nothing wrong with them. But the Pharisees used these man-made rules – such as washing your hands before eating and properly washing cooking and eating utensils – to show how good someone was. If you didn’t follow the cleaning rules, you were judged as an unforgiveable sinner, unworthy of God’s love. The reality – these Pharisees and their followers looked good on the outside, but were spiritually dry where it counted – in their hearts.
Jesus condemns this kind of behavior, quoting Isaiah, “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.” (Mark 7:6-7)
Is it important to speak good with our lips? Yes! Is it good practice to wash hands before eating? Of course! But, in God’s eyes, these actions must not be born from outward attempts to impress our friends or those around us with actions to look good; they must come from a love of God and our neighbors welling up from our hearts. (Mark 12:28-31) Words and deeds overflowing from the heart show others our faith is fully ripened, inside and out as God desires.
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Jim