Matthew 5 -- Tougher To Obey

In the Sermon On The Mount, Jesus refocused believers away from simple external righteousness such as the Pharisees practiced and toward internal righteousness – our attitudes toward ourselves, toward our sins, toward the Lord, and toward the world.

 

The “external” law had always motivated people by fear.  Now Jesus was showing how we can obey an internal law and live because of love.  “He dealt with the attitudes and intents of the heart and not simply with the external actions.”  It became the thought that counted.  Lust was a prime example.  Everyone understood that the act of adultery was forbidden, but lust starts in the heart, born of desires.  Jesus nailed it when He said that looking  at a woman – “a constant stare with the purpose of lusting, done for the purpose of feeding his inner sensual appetites as a substitute for the act – was not accidental.  It was planned and it was sin.  Therefore, just the thought itself met the measure of adultery.

 

He said that we get victory over such thoughts by purifying our desires and disciplining the actions of the body.  And He called for us not to taper off, but to cut off those actions and desires.

 

My commentary mentioned that it is much more difficult to follow and obey the Sermon On The Mount than the Ten Commandments.  Absolutely!  For we must deal with that part of our lives that no one else sees but God – our thoughts!

 

Father, I thank You for having Jesus call us out on this one.  Remind me daily that my thoughts and desires are where sin is birthed.  Help me to cut off those thoughts that aren’t of You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford