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Week 3 - Day 1

Getting Right With God Through Jesus | Read

Jesus talked about being wary of the ‘yeast’ of the Pharisees and Herod (he was the local ruler where Jesus was from). What He was talking about, was this absurd idea that we could ever impress God with our own efforts and goodness. The Pharisees and Herod thought that ticking the right boxes, doing the right ceremonies, following some religious traditions was all God wanted to see. But it’s a mistake to ignore the heart and focus purely on the outward things that "looked" devout and godly. God looks at the heart.

Jesus described this deceptive idea as "yeast". Yeast goes in dough and infects the whole loaf and changes it. So the warning is for us to make sure we don’t slip into thinking this way at all - because if we put any trust in our own effort and goodness, it will corrupt our whole faith! It’s a sobering warning. The kind of faith that God is looking for, is a faith that lets go of trying to impress God, a faith that draws close to Jesus and accepts relationship through him, and only him.

Read more... Mark 7:1 - 8:21

Questions | Reflect & Respond

Am I comfortable letting go of my own attempts to impress God?

Why does Jesus insist that the only type of relationship God wants is for me to simply follow him?

A Faith-Based Relationship | Pray

Our natural tendency is to want to impress God with our efforts and accomplishments. What we'd love is for God to acknowledge that we are good enough, that our intentions are noble, and that we are acceptable. But Jesus won’t let us fool ourselves here. He wants us to recognize that the real problem is at a heart level. That starts with us letting go of our own delusions of goodness. It's what we call 'repenting'.

It's important to admit that we cannot impress God. I'm not good enough, consistent enough, or generous enough. My best efforts are distorted by selfishness and ego. But, when I'm ready to admit this, then comes the good news - God wasn't waiting for us to impress Him. He was waiting for us to stop trying and to accept this free gift of His love. Then we can discover forgiveness and the opportunity for a new heart.

Today why don't you have a chat with God about the whole idea of being unworthy, and yet still loved.