What Comes Out

"'You have let go of the commands of God

and are holding on to the traditions of men.'

And he said to them: 'You have a fine way

of setting aside the commands of God

in order to observe your own traditions!

For Moses said, Honor your father and your mother,

and

 Anyone who curses his father or mother

 must be put to death.

But you say that if a man says to his father or mother:

Whatever help you might otherwise

 have received from me is Corban

 (that is, a gift devoted to God),

Then you no longer let him do anything for his

 father or mother.

Thus you nullify the word of God by your tradition

that you have handed down.

And you do many things like that.'

Again Jesus called the crowd to him and said,

'Listen to me, everyone, and understand this.

Nothing outside a man can make him unclean by going

into him.  Rather, it is what comes out of a man

that makes him unclean.'"

Mark 7:8-15

I recently took a trip to the west coast to visit my parents.  One thing that stood out to me was the fixation on fitness and nutrition that people seemed to carry.  Living as I do in one of the fattest states in the Union, I'm not used to having these kinds of conversations.  Even though I love exercise and have a mild interest in eating well, it is no longer what defines me.  In the past, I obsessed over exercise and nutrition and there was a time when I would enthusiastically welcome such discussions.  As I've grown in my walk with Jesus, however, I have found there are other things which are more important than physical health.

Jesus found the church people during His time on earth similarly fixated on things that were not important.  In order to try to 'help' their fellow Jews please God, these thoughtful leaders came up with lists and lists of rules for people to follow.  This set of man-made laws evolved into commandments that ended up overshadowing God's own decrees.

It's not so different now.  I have been pressured to think I must dress a certain way in order to worship God on Sunday mornings, to believe that a "good" Christian only listens to certain music or watches specific movies, or that in order to please God I must live up to the standards which man has set.  Thankfully, God judges me according to my heart.  For this reason, its not what goes into my body that defines me, but its what comes out that matters.

Fruit

The vines grew to take over the entire hill and I began making plans to preserve pickles and add zucchini to every dish that I cooked during the summer months.  It looked like the harvest would be abundant.  Then the fruits began to form and, much to my dismay, they were rotten at one end.  Disappointingly, the vines began to wither.  I was another victim of the persistent Squash Vine Borer and the destructive Cucumber Beetle.  All my hopes for a plentiful yield were dashed.

In the same way, if I walk with Jesus my life will produce good fruit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  If, however, I follow my fleshly dreams and desires, my life will produce rotten fruit. (Galatians 5:19-21)   

I am recognized by my fruit.  If my life is filled with strife, unrest, jealousy, gossip, rage, bitterness, hatred and the drive to get ahead, then I am producing fruit that is of my own sinful flesh.  But, if my life is filled with a compassion for others, the ability to suffer without complaint, the desire to live in harmony with others, and a calm and quiet spirit, then it is God's Spirit who is winning out and making His own fruit evident in my life.

Jesus said, "A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit.  Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.  Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them." (Matthew 7:8-9)  Maybe I don't always feel good.  I've been through some rough times and have fallen into sin on more than one occasion.  I feel like a failure.  But it is not up to my own ability to live a righteous life that produces this kind of fruit.  That is impossible.  

Instead, it is a life that is wholly devoted to God and devoid of any selfish desires that is able to produce the fruit that God calls good.  As Oswald Chambers said, "Undress yourself morally before God of everything that might be a possession until you are a mere conscious human being and then give God that."  God can do amazing things with a life that is surrendered to Him.

It's the quality of my fruit that matters to Him.

Cleanliness

I had the honor of visiting a Mosque and going on a tour of the facility.  As the young women described their beliefs and walked me through their rituals for pre-prayer cleansing, it struck me that they were trying to make themselves pure by washing their outer selves.  This, however, did nothing to address the real source of their uncleanness: their hearts.

God revealed His focus when He commanded Samuel to anoint a new king to replace the rebellious Saul.  He cautioned the priest to, "not consider his appearance or height. . ." as Samuel's eyes were drawn to the older, more experienced and stronger brothers.  Instead, He said, "The LORD does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." (1 Samuel 17:7)  

Even though he was a mere boy at the time, David later became known as a great king, and more importantly as a "man after God's own heart." (Acts 13:22)  My purity comes from my heart.  Do I have a desire to glorify God or follow a religion?.  Do I mostly follow my own lead or God's?  Do I consider my own needs as more important or am I dedicated to loving others?

My cleanliness does not come from taking a shower or going through a purification ritual.  Rather, my heart betrays the motivation of my actions, and thus the purity of my faith.  Either my heart is inclined toward God, or it's slanted toward myself.  As David prayed when Nathan the prophet pointed out his sin and he realized his selfish motivations, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10)

It is the tilt of my heart that matters to God.

Traditions

I remember reading about a young wife who began cooking her Thanksgiving turkey one year early in her marriage.  She thawed it out in the sink, just as she'd seen her mother do so many times before.  Finally, she placed the dish drainer upside down over the bird.  When her husband asked her why she did this, the young woman replied, "I don't know.  That's just how my mom always did it."  Unbeknownst to her, her mother's cats had attempted to dine on the thawing poultry so her mom had come up with the strategy of protecting it with the dish drainer.  Since the newlyweds owned no pets, there was not a need for this ritual.

There are many things I can do without understanding why I do them.  Maybe it's something I've seen someone else I look up to doing.  I think that if I follow suit, I'll end up with the same results as my idol.  

Or it could be that I've read a lot of books, or listened to much advice from well-meaning believers and I want to do the things they've said to do.  

It's easy for me to also get caught up following my own strategy that I've developed over the years.  After all, no one knows myself better than me, right?

If I'm not following God directly out of obedience to Him, I have no business taking part in any tradition.  No matter how long something has been carried out in my family, church or town, it will lead me away from God if the directive did not come from Him.  My relationship with God is more important than fitting in with what everyone else is doing.

Getting caught up in following traditions is not peculiar to God's people in this day and age.  The prophet Isaiah had to deliver a message to the Israelites that, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men."  (Isaiah 29:13)

How much of my worship of God, or the way I live my life, is made of stuff I do without meaning? How much of it is out of direct obedience to His calling on my life?  The former cancels out the latter.  

It is my obedience to God that matters to Him.

It is easy for me to think that either I'm a complete failure or that I'm doing pretty good.  Both beliefs are fallacy.  Rather, the truth is that I am a sinner who is saved by the grace of God through faith in my Savior Jesus Christ.  As such, I am free to move forward from here and produce good fruit that comes directly from Him, to have a pure heart cleansed by His blood, and to cultivate an obedient relationship with my Father.  It is then that what comes out of me will please God and lead to a blessed and fulfilled life.  

As I begin this day it is my prayer that my life will be wholly devoted to pleasing God.

How do I let traditions overshadow God's direct Word in my life?

In what ways is my life producing rotten fruit?

  

Unfaithful

"You adulterous people,

don't you know that friendship with the world

is hatred toward God?

Anyone who chooses to be a friend

of the world 

becomes an enemy of God."

James 4:4

Divorce rates are high, hovering around 50% and increasing with each subsequent marriage.  Followers of Christ are not immune to this trend as the same rate of divorce is reported among those professing to be Christian.  As a people, we know a little something about infidelity and unfaithfulness.  I would even go so far as to say that we have made it a way of life.

Reading through the Old Testament, I see many examples of where God says His people have been unfaithful to Him.  Apparently, the tendency to live unfaithfully runs deep among God's people.  But how have we been unfaithful?  Church attendance is trending slightly up, with 43% of Americans claiming to attend on a weekly or almost weekly basis.  An astounding 42% of Americans claim to be born again or evangelical.  Even though 74% of Christians believe that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God, only 48% read it on a regular basis.  

On the surface, it seems like I live in a country where almost half it's residents follow Jesus.  Clearly, looking at the divorce rates and the culture in general,  there is something wrong.  Could it be that we are once again, as a people of God, turning our backs on Him?  Are we praising the LORD with our mouths but our hearts are far from Him?  (Isaiah 29:13)  It seems our inclination towards unfaithfulness is affecting more than just our marriages.

Spoiled Fruit

I have a large section of strawberry plants in my garden.  The vines look healthy and have quadrupled in size since I planted them last year.  I was so excited for harvest time to come.  As I watched the little berries grow and gradually turn red, it finally came time to pick some of the delicious fruit: I could taste the strawberry shortcake.  As I searched through the plants, though, most of the ripened fruit I came across had either shriveled up or been eaten by a bird or rodent. Disappointingly, I collected only a handful of fruit that was fit for consumption.


In a similar way, I can look good on the outside, appearing to have a strong relationship with God and follow Him closely.  When it comes time for the harvest, however, my fruit may be spoiled, shriveled up or half-eaten by pests.  The fruit I produce exposes the state of my heart. Either I am for God, or I am against Him; I can't have it both ways.


I can't be motivated by a desire to succeed and also profess to desire only God's will for my life.  It is impossible for me to say that pleasing God is my driving force yet fail to love my husband and family.  If I constantly corrupt my heart with the filth of a sinful world coming through the television set yet claim to follow a holy God, who am I fooling?  


The fruit I produce will either be from the vineyard of the Lord, or it will be harvested from the dark orchard of my own flesh, depending on who is master of my life.  If Jesus is Lord, then love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control will be yielded. (Galatians 5:22-23)  


If, however, I am my own master and lord, then I will find, ". . .loveless and cheap sex, frenzied and joyless grabs for happiness; trinket gods; magic-show religion; paranoid loneliness; cutthroat competition; all-consuming-yet-never-satisfied wants; a brutal temper; an impotence to love or be loved; divided homes and divided lives; small-minded and lopsided pursuits; the vicious habit of depersonalizing everyone into a rival; uncontrolled and uncontrollable addictions; ugly parodies of community."  (Galatians 5:19-20 MSG)   This sounds like a description of the culture in which I live.


Paul went on in this passage to say, "This isn't the first time I have warned you, you know.  If you use your freedom this way, you will not inherit God's kingdom."  (Galatians 5:21 MSG)  That's what I call a sobering word of caution for the people of God living in a dark world.  Will I stay true to Him and His ways, or will I get sucked into the culture around me?  


I betray the state of my level of faithfulness to God in the fruit I am producing.

Reckless Righteousness

"It's okay for me to look at other men as long as I don't touch.  I mean, God wants me to enjoy His handiwork, doesn't He?"

"Sure my family drinks a lot, but we don't have a problem.  We could stop any time we want to.  Alcohol is just a part of the way we celebrate."

"I'm free to watch, say and do anything I want to, as long as I don't hurt anyone else."

"When I write the receipt, I'll change the amount I actually collected from you for the car so you don't have to pay so many taxes."

These are some comments I have actually heard from believers and they represent the attitudes and viewpoints of most western believers:  Since we are saved by grace, the way we live our lives is not really that important.

Unfortunately for us, this is a bald-faced lie!  God is very concerned with the way I live my life as one of His children.  As His Word says in 1 Peter 1:15-16, "So you must live as God's obedient children.  Don's slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires.  You didn't know any better then.  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy."  (NLT)

Just because my sin is atoned for does not give me license to live my life as one who has not been set free from the bondage of sin!  Sin is an affront to God, and continuing to live my life as one who has no hope does not please Him.  In fact, it angers Him.  As A.W. Tozer said, "God's wrath is his utter intolerance of whatever degrades and destroys.  He hates iniquity as a mother hates the polio that would take the life of the child."  

Recklessly using the grace of God as His permission to continue in my selfish ways is dangerous and destructive.  If I'm serious about my walk with the Lord, I will make it my goal to live in a way that pleases Him instead of just doing what comes naturally.

My level of faithfulness to God is evident in the choices I make, in the words I say and in the thoughts I think.

Wayward Heart  

I can tell when my husband isn't really listening.  I'll be chattering away and he'll respond with, "Mmhhmm. . .okay. . . .right. . . "  I then know he didn't hear a word I said.  His heart and mind were somewhere else, thinking about work, his list of things to do, or an upcoming meeting.  His body is present but his heart is not with me.

As aggravating as that feels to me, I often do this to God.  I talk about Him, I go to church, I attend Bible study, I pray, I do all that I think I'm supposed to do; but my heart is not really with God.  Instead, I'm going through the motions, mindlessly reciting and acting out of tradition.  I can't remember the last time I had a real conversation with Him.  

God had to warn the Israelites about this same problem through the prophet Isaiah.  He said, "These people say they are mine.  They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote."  Isaiah 29:13 NLT)  

The biggest indicator of the state of my heart is whether or not I am obeying God.  If I do what He says, my heart is focused on pleasing God. If, however, I don't give a second thought to what God wants me to do during the course of a day, then my heart is focused on pleasing myself.  I must always remember that God doesn't care how my life looks to others.  Rather, God is most concerned about the state of my heart.  

Another gauge that helps to measure the tenderness of my heart is in how much I worry.  When I fret about difficulties, needs and hardships, I am acting unfaithfully.  Or, as Oswald Chambers said, "It is not only wrong to worry, it is infidelity, because worrying means that we do not think that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything else that worries us."  

If my heart is faithful to God, or at least moving closer to Him, then I will do things His way and my worries will be gone as I rest in His peace.  

I am naturally a two-timing traitor.  Living in a culture that rewards individuality and the pursuit of my own self-interest, I must guard against infidelity toward God.  I will know when I am drifting away from Him by examining the fruit produced in my life, looking at the way in which I choose to live my life, and finding the location of my heart.  In this way I can keep from being a friend of the world, but an enemy of God.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can keep focused on you and all that you are doing in my life.

How do I betray the location of my heart in the way I live my life?

In what areas do I have a hard time letting go of behavior that is not pleasing to God?