Happy Friday!
Today, we’re continuing our series of Six Ways to Think Like Jesus with discussing offerings and oaths.
Refer to last week’s post for additional introduction information about the topic.
Offerings:
In Matthew 5:23-26, Jesus teaches on offerings. He explains that it’s not enough to offer regular gifts, that we must also have right relationships with God and others. The emphasis here seems to be on the Pharisees who were content to outwardly obey the law, but inwardly did not allow God to change their hearts. On the outside, their life appeared perfect with a generous offering, but Jesus knew their hearts and could see that the two did not match. We cannot say with our mouth that we love God, but then show with our actions that we hate people. The two contradict one another (I John 4:20).
Oaths:
In Matthew 5:33-37, Jesus teaches on making oaths and He says that it is not enough to make an oath, that we must also avoid casual and irresponsible comments in reference to God. The emphasis here was on telling the truth. In Jesus’ day, it was common practice for people to swear by something (the sun, the earth, so as to avoid swearing to God, but again these are still God’s creation) as a way to deceive the other person. Jesus speaks to this here to teach us that we should always tell the truth and be sincere with our promise. Our words should be enough. We shouldn’t have to swear by something for others to believe that we will follow through with a commitment we have made.
I believe the take away should be for us to examine our motives. Jesus is teaching that outward expression of the law is not enough. God wants our hearts as well. Jesus says in Matthew 15:7-9, quoting the prophet, Isaiah, “You hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy of you, when he said: “‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’”
We do not want to be a people who only honor God with our lips. We want to honor Him with everything, especially our hearts.
Which of Jesus’ teachings can you relate to most?
**summarized from Life Application Study Bible, NIV, Zondervan
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