This people draws near to me with their mouth, and honors me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

– Matthew 15:8

Thoughts on Today’s Verse…

In this verse, the Lord Jesus revealed that the Pharisees only worshipped God outwardly but without reality. Although they often explained the scriptures to people in the synagogue, they did not revere God at all. They believed in God but didn’t have God in their hearts. This manner of faith couldn’t gain God’s praise. What God cares about is our hearts, not our actions on the surface. Just as God’s words say, “God has a standard for judging whether the person’s actions are good or bad and whether the person has obeyed, and whether the person has satisfied God’s will and whether what they do is qualified. What God cares about is the person’s heart, not their actions on the surface. It’s not the case that God should bless someone as long as they do it, regardless of how they do it. This is people’s misunderstanding of God. God looks not just at the end result of things, but places more emphasis on how a person’s heart is and how a person’s attitude is during the development of things, and looks at whether there is obedience, consideration, and the desire to satisfy God in their heart.” God’s words clearly tell us that His standard in weighing us is not outward behavior but our hearts. Each time a matter befalls us, what God wants to see is that in this process, whether we have obedience, consideration and the desire to satisfy Him in our hearts, not our outward actions and behaviors.