“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart…” – Matthew 22: 37

It all started in Matthew 15 when a few Scribes and Pharisees jumped on Jesus about His disciples breaking the Law of Moses by not washing their hands before they ate. After He straight up called them hypocrites to their face, then, the Lord fired right back with a quote from Isaiah 29: 13.

“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men…”

The problem, He was suggesting, is not that my disciples break the law, as much as, it is that you call yourself keeping the law, but your heart ain’t in it. You love God with smooth lips, but your heart ain’t in it. You shower God with flowery language, but your heart ain’t in it. You inscribed God’s laws on your clothes, but your heart ain’t in it. You fast with pious looks, but your heart ain’t in it.

You have motion without emotion, doing without devotion, action without affection, practicing without passion. That’s not genuine love. That’s not true worship. It ain’t real love if your heart ain’t in it. Perhaps, Jesus was saying in so many words: “I’d much rather have my disciples eat without washing their hands, than see you lifting up your spotless hands to God, when actually, your heart ain’t in it.” Hummm!