SERMON ON THE MOUNT: Matthew 6 is About the HEART. Matthew 6:33.

Posted bySteven WalesPosted inMotives/Lord looks on the heartTags:, , , , , , , , , , , ,

Yesterday I wrote that the Beatitudes (the opening lines of the Sermon on the Mount) are about the heart. This is a theme of the Son of God’s first and most important sermon: your heart. The Old Testament encouraged God’s people to obey the law. And the words of Jesus are consistent with that. He expressly stated He did not come to abolish the law: “I did not come to abolish but to fulfill” Matthew 5:17.

But Jesus fulfilled the law in part by pointing us to the heart. Jesus showed us that God is not merely interested in our actions, but in our motives.

Perhaps the best-known example of Jesus’s concern for the heart is found in His words on adultery: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Do not commit adultery,’ but I say to you, everyone who looks on a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery in his heart” Matthew 5:27-28.

As the sermon proceeds, Jesus further elaborates on the heart, stating general principles, followed by specific examples:

“Do not practice  your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them” Matthew 6:1.

Give in secret. Pray in secret. Fast in secret.

“Do not store up treasures on earth … but in heaven” Matthew 6:19-20.

The location of your treasure directs the location of your heart. Your heart is a compass, and the True North to which it points will be whatever you treasure most.

“You cannot serve both God and money”—so serve God, Matthew 6:24.

Do not worry about your little kingdom, your shelter, food, and clothing. Instead, spend your life building God’s kingdom “and all these things will be added unto you” Matthew 6:33.

God, show us where our treasure is: to what location does our heart return us every day like a compass?

Please help us treasure nothing so much as YOUR KINGDOM. “Search me, oh God, and know my HEART. Test me and reveal my anxious thoughts. See if there is any hurtful way in me and lead me in the everlasting way” Psalm 139:23-24. 

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*The photo above is a compass available for purchase online: https://www.wayfair.com/decor-pillows/pdp/breakwater-bay-rebekah-small-compass-w000674847.html

Published by Steven Wales

Dad's Daily Devotional began as text messages to my family. I wanted my teenagers to know their father was reading the Bible. But they were at school by then. Initially, I sent them a favorite verse or an insight based on what I read each day. That grew into drafting a devotional readng which I would send them via text. I work as an attorney and an adjunct professor, and recently wrote a book called HOW TO MAKE A'S.

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