A Pause to Ponder God's Word"
"The Heart of the Matter"
"Get to the heart of the matter" is a familiar cliche. We are quick to use it when someone is beating around the bush to avoid the real issue. We all are masters of avoidance. We even do it in our walk with the Lord. We change our behavior and our speech, maybe even our clothes and our activities, all the while avoiding the heart of the matter. It is easier to follow commandments, standards and rules than face the real issue. It is possible by human effort to appear Christian, but these changes are outward only and do not get to the heart of the matter. Such changes leave our motives and devotion unchanged. They leave us unchanged.

Jesus does not let us get away with such avoidance. He consistently gets to the heart of the matter. No where is this more clear than in His sermon of the mount. There He tells us that "unless our righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and teachers of the law, we will not enter the Kingdom of Heaven." (Matthew 6:20) The Pharisee's righteousness was an outward righteousness. It was a righteousness contrived through obedience to the law, but the law cannot get to the heart of the matter. If our righteousness is to surpass that of the Pharisees, we must have a radical change of heart. We must "be" righteous," not just attempt to act righteous.

Using the grammatical phrase, "You have heard that it was said..." Jesus illustrates His point. For example, we know the commandment, "Do not murder." But, the problem isn't murder, its hatred. Jesus gets to the heart of the matter saying, "but I tell you that anyone who gets angry with his brother will be subject to judgement." (Matthew 6:22) How about honesty? We know the commandment not to lie. But yet we enter into oaths and contracts in a feeble attempt to give some credence to our word, because people don't keep their word. Jesus gets to the heart of the matter telling us "simply let our Yes' be yes' and our no', no' anything beyond that comes from the evil one." (Matthew 6:37)

Christians are not to be people attempting to live good, moral lives. We are fully aware that it is impossible to be righteous through human effort. We are poverty stricken morally. Rather, Christians are a people whose hearts hunger and thirst for righteousness and therefore bow before God meek, mourning over their condition that they may filled with the righteousness of Christ Jesus. (Matthew 5:6) Its not a matter of law. It's a matter of heart! Jesus noted this at the outset of His sermon, "Blessed are the pure in heart."

Jesus can and wants to purify our hearts. He can and wants to give us holy intentions for our actions. He makes it possible for us to truly fulfill the law, for when the heart of the matter is dealt with, we "love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our strength and our neighbor as ourselves." (Matthew 22:37- 38) Let us all consecrate ourselves wholly to God today, so that He can purify our hearts. Let's all let Jesus deal with the heart of the matter!

Keep Close To Jesus
Pastor Gerry


A Pause To Ponder God's Word is written and distributed by Gerald Whetstone, Ordained Elder and teacher in the Church of the Nazarene. These devotionals may be transmitted, duplicated, used in part or in entirety without permission for nonprofit purposes only. Responses welcome. To Subscribe Click Here.
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