The Distance Between the Lips and the Heart

Mat 15:7  Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias prophesy of you, saying, 8  This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

It is said, your talk talks and your walk talks, but your walk talks more than your talk talks.

That is because our heart leads the way, it is the seat of our character, part of the soul of our being. It is not the saying, but the doing that sticks, not the intention, but the result, not the promise, but the performance.

Though the heart dictates our actions, our lips say something different. What we say is sometimes just the facade.

The lips put up a front. They say what others want or need to hear, even when our heart is not in it. They flatter, they lie, they mislead and misrepresent. Lo, they ensnare us and ultimately show the distant between them and the heart.

I am a pastor, I have witnessed the hypocrisy of the lips more than I can recall. The disparity of the lips and the heart sometimes makes me wonder if they belong to the same body.

If I had a dime for every time I have heard, "Pastor, we will see you Sunday" I would truly be a wealthy man. I have heard my fair share of promises of faithfulness, commitments to give and resolutions to do better. Alas, these assurances were only lip service. The heart was not in it.

In our culture, promises, oaths, commitments, good intentions and New Year's resolutions are rescinded without remorse. Accountability and honesty are at an all-time low. The reason is because of that vast chasm between the lips and the heart.

The sinner's prayer, in which a person voices their faith and repentance to God, is often futile because it was a matter of drawing close to the Lord with the lips, but there is really no heart belief. An individual will throw up a desperate prayer toward heaven hoping it will stick. But the heart connection was never made. Sad! Eternally tragic.

Isn't it time we stop talking out of our heads and start committing with the heart? Man looks on the outward appearance, which is generally indicated by our words, but God looks beyond the words and is a great observer of the heart. Therefore, draw night to God with your heart, and let the words of your mouth align themselves accordingly.

Ps 19:14  Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.