There is so much to gain and understand from the simple teaching from Jesus that we call, The Great Command.  The passage from Mark reads:

“One of the scribes came and heard them arguing, and recognizing that He had answered them well, asked Him, ‘What commandment is the foremost of all?’  Jesus answered, ‘The foremost is, “HEAR, O ISRAEL! THE LORD YOUR GOD IS ONE LORD; AND YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” And the second is this, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”  There is no other commandment greater than these’” (Mark 12:28-31, NASB).

I am continually brought back to the first statement of this command in loving God with all our hearts.  The seventh chapter of Mark is all about the heart of man, which returns back to the purpose of man’s existence in worshiping God.  John’s Revelation shows us a glimpse of heaven and in this snapshot we only see worship taking place.  In the first chapter we see John falling on his face in worship.  In chapter four we see these creatures that do nothing but worship singing “holy, holy, holy…” and also the twenty-four elders falling down before our God in worship.  Heaven is all about worship.  When we pray heaven to earth (as Jesus commanded in the Lord’s prayer) we are calling down a spirit of us worshiping our Holy God; resulting in us loving God with all our hearts.

All too often we get caught up in other topics and concerns just like those in Mark 7.  Tradition seems to take priority, whether the tradition is from old or a new tradition trying to be established.  Thus resulting in the prophecy of Isaiah being fulfilled again, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me.  But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men” (Mark 7:6-7, NASB).  Worship isn’t just the music in our churches, but this continues to remain a hot topic for some reason? We don’t need hymns in our churches!  We don’t need new choruses, contemporary music, or a worship leader building an emotional response in music in our churches!  We need a people with a pure heart desperate to worship our Almighty God whether there is music or not!

This is actually summed up nicely in Mark chapter 7 with the Syrophoenician woman.  She came to Jesus begging Him to heal her daughter of a demonic spirit.  Jesus’ response was, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs” (Mark 7:27, NASB).  How rude!  Jesus called this woman a “dog.”  If this happened today the response of the woman would be something like, “how dare you call me a dog.”  We believe that we are entitled to everything and when we believe we are treated unfairly then it should be made right.  We would accuse Jesus of committing a “hate crime” and seek to have Him punished, but that didn’t happen here.  Instead, this Syrophoenician woman humbled herself and said, “yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs” (Mark 7:28, NASB).  This melted Jesus’ heart and He had compassion on her; He saw her humility and pureness of heart in a posture of worship, and her daughter was healed.  This woman was actually living out the teachings of Jesus to perfection; she approached Jesus in complete humility and worship (she fell at His feet in verse 25) and she persisted in the humility requesting His mercy (bread at midnight from Luke 11:5-13).

Are you catching everything that is happening here?  Jesus didn’t just call the woman a “dog” but was calling all gentiles “dogs” compared to the children (Jews).  It was not the appropriate time for the gentiles to receive the blessings, but this one gentile woman came representing all us gentiles.  She could’ve responded in pride, but there was a response in humility.  She could’ve responded in a manner of entitlement, but instead she responded by humbly seeking mercy from the One who gives mercy.  This humility in worship resulted in Jesus taking action when He wasn’t planning to, and the request was answered by Jesus extending grace.

We are called to be humble worshipers of our Holy God and not men and women who honor God by our speaking while in church (and occasionally out of church depending on who we are talking to).  The honoring of God with our lips as prophesied from Isaiah comes down to a spirit of pride, a spirit of entitlement.  Our political environment has invaded our churches and we have a political spirit driving a spirit of pride, and thus causing us to have a “dead” church prohibiting true worship.  One who has pride cannot truly worship God.  We must have humility like the Syrophoenician woman in order to worship God.  Neither you nor I deserve anything from God, and it is only by His grace that we may receive His mercy.  Therefore, humble yourself before Him in the pureness of worship and adoration.  Cry out for His mercy on your church that the spirit of entitlement and pride may be broken off and removed; that your church may be the beautiful bride it is called to be.  Loving God with all our hearts is a life-style called a life of worship.

I desire to live a Faith-Full life, in the fullness of His love.