| Matthew 15:8 – “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are from me” |
It’s often said that if you want to change your life, thoughts in your mind (albeit perspective, habits, direction, etc.) must travel 18 inches to your heart. Knowing is important but believing is imperative.
The same is true with our faith.
Many know the Scriptures. They can quote book, chapter, and verse in one sentence while parsing the original language in the next. For some, church history and biblical trivia is a favorite pastime.
Ironically, some atheists know Scripture better than some followers of Jesus. Seeing the Bible as simply an archaic literary work, they recite excerpts from cover to cover in various conversations, contexts, or climates.
A universal problem has plagued generation after generation. Sometimes, knowledge of the mind doesn’t firmly plant in the soil of the heart.
It was Jesus’ biggest beef with the Pharisees, Sadducees, Chief Priests, and teachers of the law. They knew the Torah better than all of Palestine. Their theological “book knowledge” was stout, but their spiritual “street smarts” were shallow.
On one occasion Jesus told the Sadducees, “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.” (Matthew 22: 29, NIV). Oh, they were very aware of the Scriptures, but they didn’t know the Scriptures. They had read the book, but they didn’t know the author. Their intellect hadn’t travelled 18 inches to their heart.
It’s the same reason why Jesus indicted the Pharisees a few chapters earlier. “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are from me” (Matthew 15: 8, NIV).
Tough accusations to overcome, for sure.
But what about us? What about me?
I regretfully confess that at times I’ve allowed scholarship to falsely compensate for discipleship. I focused more on what I was teaching than how I was living. Hypocrisy is no respecter of persons.
Diplomas can’t suffice for devotion. Memorization doesn’t solidify maturation. The LORD wants His followers to be real, raw, and reverent, but it won’t happen until their faith travels from their minds to their hearts.
Has your faith travelled those critical 18 inches? It will change and save your life.
- Jacob Hawk
