30th Mar 26 | 13:54
Studies by Book
Luke 11 37-54 Repenting from hypocrisy Woe 6
📖 Luke 11:37-54
*Where our treasure is there our heart will be also* _Luke 11:37-54_
_Friends, God sees our spirits, to see if there is health and wholeness there _Zechariah 12:1._ Our Lord was confronting the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers of the hypocrisy of their so called purification and religiosity. He was addressing them head-on, on the issues of their heart.
The matter of giving alms _Luke 11:41_ is explained in the Old Testament. The Jews were commanded to be liberal and to willingly lend to people, who came to them for help. A wicked thought ought not to rise within them, of how they can hold back and give just the minimum, considering their own safety and security, as the priority. _God always weighs the thoughts and motives of our hearts._ Their heart should be joyful in giving to others _Deuteronomy 15:8-10._
So, it was not just the matter of giving alms that our Lord was confronting the religious leaders on but our Lord was confronting them on the attitude of their heart towards money, the material things of life, towards bread, towards mammon.
_Friends, we may seem very pious and humble, externally, and people may speak highly of our simplicity and humility but God knows our hearts and the motives of our hearts. Is the world and the success indicators of the world, driving the decisions and choices of our lives?_
_Friends, analyse some of the major choices and decisions that you and your family have taken, recently, and ask yourself as to what was the basis of the choice, which you made. Don’t deceive yourself with spiritual sounding rhetoric. Be honest. Cut through all the clutter and face the fundamental basis of the choices that you made. What do you see there? Was it money, comfort in life, being well settled…? If so, be clear that you are a friend of the world._ What is the world? The world comprises of the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life _I John 2:15-17._ A friend of the world is an enemy of God _James 4:4. If we are actually enemies of God, how can we say that we love God?_
The problem is not with money or the material things of life but the concern is regarding the attitude of our hearts towards these things, which are termed as ‘bread’ _Matthew 4:4._ The love of or for money, will replace our trust in God _I Timothy 6:9-10._ We may say that we are believers and claim to trust in God but if the material/money is driving our life choices and decisions, then money is our master and not God _Matthew 6:24._
We like to generally say that we must repent of our sin but what we need to actually repent of, is from what we have placed our trust on. That is true repentance, to repent from trusting the world/mammon/money/bread and turn and place our trust in God. If we were to repent at this place it will cost us heavily, for we will have to be ready to dismantle many of our choices and decisions that we have made, which were bread based.
Our life goal and treasure has to be what is eternal, for where our treasure is there our heart will be also _Matthew 6:19-21._
*Thought to ponder*
```Since we are driven by that which the people of the world are also being driven, we have no distinctiveness to present to our world.```