A distant heart

This morning in my prayer and meditation, the Lord brought a scripture to my remembrance. It is found in the gospel of Mark, chapter six, verse six. Jesus said "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." NIV

You know how it is sometimes when you see something, and then you REALLY see it? As I opened my bible it seemed as if the verse leaped out at me. I know in actuality that it did not, but when my eyes fell upon that scripture, I sensed the Lord speaking to me.

Honor is important. Honor speaks of reverence, of paying respect to. When I think of honor in relation to the Lord, I think of worship. Often in our "worship" services, I challenge the people to praise the Lord, lift Him up. Enter into worship, I say. Give him honor.

Our words are important. They carry weight. They release life or death. Confession is a principle we understand. But what Jesus says in this verse moves me this morning.

These people honor me with their lips, but... There it is, the BUT. I would have been okay if he had not have put the BUT in there. I was trucking along pretty good until I came to the BUT. It seems my BUT is in the way sometimes.

BUT their heart is far from me. Far means at a distance that is not near. It indicates a separation from. Closeness is not there. Jesus in essence was saying, their lips say one thing but their heart says something else. The heart is the main thing.

If my words are not in alignment with my heart, there is trouble. I can voice one thing and live another. It is possible to confess at one moment that I will follow him all the way, and then to live just the opposite the next moment. Ask Peter. He followed at a distance. Sometimes I feel myself drifting from him. A week has gone by and my prayer life and devotions have been neglected. I have been busy FOR him, but not intimate WITH him. I have prioritized work over worship, work over the word. I have spent too much time watching TV, on the internet, being goofy on facebook, or whatever.

In Psalms 19:14, David says, "Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer." To be acceptable, both my words and my heart must be near, up close, intimate.

Sometimes I am sitting in the living room in my home. The day is done, and Trish and I have a rare opportunity to have an evening together. After the evening meal, we relax and the TV is on. She may want to watch a movie or something. She is on one of the sofa recliners. It is one of the smaller ones, we used to call them "love seats", I guess because it basically has room for two. I am sitting on the couch, about 10 feet or so away from where she is. While watching the tv with her, I am not really into it. I am on my computer, checking my emails, chatting with someone, or something. I tell her I love her. She responds. But at the moment Trish is not feeling love. We are close in proximity, but I have allowed other things to take away her time with me, which she regards as precious.

I'm working on things. This blog is not intended as a tool to bring someone under condemnation. I guess it may be a confession on my part. I don't want to allow ANYTHING to stand in my way with Him. I don't want a distant heart.