Today’s chapter is Matthew 15

Tom writes:

Jesus praises soft hearts, not clever lips. It’s actually quite hard to tell the difference. The Pharisees’ tradition sounded clever. They spoke in a way that claimed softness towards God, even special fellowship with God. But Jesus saw behind the surface. Jesus knew that despite all their fanfare, the Pharisees were propagating a hard religion which was happy to overlook needy family members. God looked at their hearts and he saw cold hard pride. But what of the Canaanite woman? Why does Jesus treat her like he does? The woman initially seems to be bringing clever lips. In her foreign accent she copies the words spoken by Israel’s crowds.

Jesus shows he is not a magician - he does not respond to correctly spoken spells. But he also hangs around long enough for her to be able to approach him and expose her heart. And she does just that. Her actions show her soft heart; her really soft heart towards the true God of All. So Jesus breaks all the rules to release healing to her daughter. Matthew pieced together these passages to prompt this big question; “where is your heart?”. You might be able to repeat clever words, but where is your love? Hearts are funny things. They can so easily drift, their affections can so quickly flutter onto some other things. Does your heart burn for Jesus right now? Does it urge you to kneel before Jesus and beg for his touch? Is your heart close to him? If so, expect mercy - expansive mercy - to be pushed in your direction. If not, use your clever lips to beg God to soften your heart to Jesus, ask the Spirit of God to cause you to move past just superficial speaking and have a heart that heaves with desire for God again.

Question for reflection

What do you love most about God?

Matthew 15 - Friday 23rd August