In his "Sermon on the Mount," Jesus taught that God desires obedience that comes from our heart. Obedience that is done to be seen by others, to impress them, is not obedience at all--and those that practice such "obedience" have already received their reward.
But when we pray in secret, serve the needy without fanfare, and prepare to worship God for his sake (and not to impress others), we please God, and God, who sees what is done in secret, will reward us.
| Heart and Hypocrisy (Matthew 6:1-24) |
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When you cook, you might choose to follow the recipe. There is a difference in rotely following the recipe, putting in exact measurements and following the recipe in exactness in order to produce a "finished good" and in following the recipe, but infusing your cooking with the joy that comes from desiring to produce a good, tasteful, healthy meal.
It's the same with our service to God. We can either follow his rules by rote and without joy, or we can obey God out of the sincere desire of a heart that loves him. In the latter case, the "rules" still matter, but obedience to God arises out of one's love of God, from the transformation that comes when technique is abandoned for God alone.
| Technique or Transformation |
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In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), Jesus makes clear that God desires inward purity and a changed life that arises from that inward purity. He does not want empty obedience that is done half-heartedly in an attempt to please him.
Jesus makes this especially clear in Matthew 7:13-27 through an example of a fruit tree (a bad tree does not produce good fruit), a declaration that not everyone who does things in his name is a true disciple, and a parable about building proper foundations.
He teaches us that those who are true disciples are those who do the Father's will, which he explains as both hearing his words and doing them. Obedience requires action in Jesus' name--that's how we do the Father's will.
| Doing the Will of the Father |
| File Size: | 28647 kb |
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