In Matthew Chapter 12,
we learn that as Jesus and his disciples were walking through a grain field, on the Sabbath Day, Jesus was thanking His Father for hiding His mysteries from those who think themselves wise and clever. And as Jesus was offering this prayer of thanksgiving, His disciples grew hungry, and began eating heads of grain. As they did, some Pharisees saw them and protested and said, “Look, your disciples are breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath.” Jesus responded, “Haven’t you read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? He went into the house of God, and he and his companions broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. And haven’t you read in the law of Moses that the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath?” And before they could process their thoughts and emotions, Jesus threw out a truth bomb! “I tell you, there is one here who is even greater than the Temple! But you would not have condemned my innocent disciples if you knew the meaning of this Scripture: ‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” Matthew 12:1-8 NLT Can you believe it? Jesus recited the words from Hosea 6:6 when responding to those hypocrites! But let us take a deeper look at the Whole context. God spoke out of Hosea’s mouth and said, “O Israel and Judah, what should I do with you?” asks the Lord. “For your love vanishes like the morning mist and disappears like dew in the sunlight. I sent my prophets to cut you to pieces - to slaughter you with my words, with judgments as inescapable as light. I want you to show love, not offer sacrifices. I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings. But like Adam, you broke my covenant and betrayed my trust.” Hosea 6:4-7 These teachers of the law just don’t get it! The still think sacrifices are better than love! They are like many teachers of the Word today - who think you can replace fellowship with God with scripture memorization, and teach that sacrificing time to be in the Word is hard. This is not the kind of heart that God desires. God says, “I want you to know me more than I want burnt offerings.” You see, Jesus is not about competition, and He will not compete with the world. He desires a heart that longs for him, a heart that truly wants to know him - not a heart that is distracted, nor heart that is lukewarm. If a person desires to be in fellowship with God, they do not have to be prodded! They will be fully committed! Their desire is to dive into scripture because every Word of God is like oxygen that gives them breath. We have to be very careful about how we approach scripture, because we do not want to be half-hearted. We should first inspect our motives. Do we see Jesus as greater than the Temple, or are we still approaching God from a heart of lust? “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.” 1 John 2:15-17
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