Today’s Reading
Mark 7:1-23
[bible passage=”Mark 7:1-23″ version=”esv”]Defining a Hypocrite
Write out a definition of what a hypocrite is. How close does your definition come to the one Isaiah gives in this passage (vs.7)? He says, basically, that a hypocrite is one who honors God with his lips, or by what he says, but his heart is far from God. A hypocrite is someone whose true walk does not match his talk. The way he acts on the outside is not really what is going on inside. At church he looks very spiritual, but at work no one knows he is a Christian. He sings the songs and talks the talk, but inside he knows that his heart is far from God. How close are you to the definition given here? If we could see the true condition of your heart, would we conclude that your walk matches your talk? Do you talk and act like a Christian, but inside your heart you are really far from God? Simply playing games with people and leading them to a wrong conclusion about you is pitiful. What would it take for you to change your hypocrisy? Make a list of the areas of your life in which you struggle the most with saying the right thing, but not doing the right thing. Make a plan today to begin to change all that and stop being a hypocrite.
Today’s Questions
Say What?
Observation: What do I see?
So What?
Interpretation: What does it mean?
Now What?
Application: How does it apply to me?
Then What?
Implementation: What do I do?