‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.”
Matthew 15: 8
Have you heard of the phrase ‘lip service’ –
where we say things that we don’t really mean? I remember one day, I said something to someone that I didn’t mean, and the Holy Spirit immediately rebuked me sharply. It felt like “you didn’t have to say anything”, I just moved away quietly 😀. Most of us like singing and praising the Lord and may say something like “I really love the Lord”, but does the Lord see that as love?
One thing I have discovered in life is that, people always want to love you in their own love language, and not in your love language. They will normally do things they want to be done for them (or what they perceive love to be), and say something like “I really love you”; and the receiver will be like, “you love me how”? The person might be thinking of all that they have done that the other person is not seeing. 😊
God has his language of love too. It is keeping His word. It is boldly written in John 14:21-23 that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.
22 Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world?
23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.
24 He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.”
The Lord defines loving Him to mean keeping His commandments. That is keeping His word. We might be singing, preaching and doing all the wonderful stuff, but if we don’t keep His commandments, it shows we don’t love Him. We will be honouring Him with our lips but the heart will be far from Him. A heart that is close to the Lord is a heart that does what the Lord says. We might not get it right all the time but his word says in 1 John 2:1-2 “1 My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:
2 And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for [the sins of] the whole world.“
For our service not to be in vain, it has to come from a heart that keep His word and that is turned towards Him.
We can pray and ask the Lord to direct our hearts into His love 2 Thess 3:5 ‘May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.’
We can also offer our hearts to the Lord as said in Prov 23:26 ‘O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.’
Do you love the Lord?
..If a man love me, he will keep my words: …. (John 14:23, KJV)
Let’s pray 🙏
Father thank you for your mercy and long suffering towards us. Please direct our hearts into your love .
Amen 🙏
Chara-Joy 🌸 