The Meaning Of Life

https://biblehub.com/nkjv/joshua/22.htm

If you remember, the children of Reuben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh asked Moses for the land on the east side of the Jordan, and Moses told them that if they helped their brothers (actually cousins), overtake the promised land, that he would give it to them, and they did.

Now the battles are over (or so we think), and those tribes are returning to their lands on the east side.

And there, they built an altar to God, which angers the other tribes, perceiving they had perhaps built an altar to a fake god, or were separating themselves from the other tribes. In fact, it was merely so they had their own place to worship and did not have to travel so far to worship.

So the tribes on the west sent a messenger to them, and it was concluded peacefully with an honest and heartfelt answer.

What can we learn from this?

First of all, the response from the tribes on the east side of the Jordan is very insightful. “God knows the heart…”, is the jest of their answer, and that is so very true. Regardless of how we act, carry ourselves, log many miles in church, God knows our heart. We can profess to be Christians, we can pray to God all we want, we can attend church services regularly, we can study the Bible, we can use “word salad” to profess our worship of God, but if our heart is bad, God knows it.

For example, a psychiatrist once said that 50% of all ordained pastor view pornography on a regular basis. Based on outward appearances, these are “men of God”. They dedicated their lives to serving Him, to teaching others about God and Christ, they’re the leaders of the church, the ones with a smile and a kind word, the ones who help you to understand the Bible, they give advice on spiritual matters, and much more, and on outward appearances, you would think that of anyone, they would be the closest to God. But if half of them are secretly viewing porn in their own home, or God forbid, in their church office, God knows it. Regardless of outward appearance, He knows their heart.

And the same rings true for us. I’ll use myself as an example: I can fly all of the religious flags on my house that I want, I can wear as many Christian tee shirts to share my faith, I can talk a good talk about my knowledge of Biblical facts, I can pray multiple times throughout the day, but if my heart is bad, God knows it. Spoiler alert: My heart is bad, but I’m working on it. I’m imperfect. And when I pray to God for forgiveness of my sins, He knows whether it is “word salad” or if it is coming from the heart. I can squeeze my eyes shut tightly, look to the heavens or bow to the ground, I can lay down prone on the floor and pray my earnest of all prayers, but if my heart is bad, God knows it. He knows I’m not sincere. He knows it is all an Academy Award winning act.

Before we go to church, before we pray, before we profess our love for Christ, we must first tame our hearts.

The second and final thing I want to address, the tribes on the east side built an altar so they didn’t have to travel so far to worship. How many of us would go to church if we all had to travel to one universal church. Suppose today, we had to get on an airplane, fly to Israel, and attend church services at the original altar to God. How many of us would do that? Very few.

So it’s okay to have altars (churches) closer to home so they are easily accessible for those who want to worship on a regular basis. What is not good, is the fact that we have over 14,000 different denominations, people separated by different beliefs. And I believe it is the work of Satan that has done that. Satan uses the “divide and conquer” tactic in an attempt to destroy the church. What’s worse, is there are times I share my thoughts on social media about a religious subject, and I come under attack! No one can just say, “Oh, that’s a different opinion, I don’t agree, but it’s his opinion.” No, people actually attack me, either trying to discredit me, put me down, shut me up, or whatever, but they are berating me because I am wrong!” And it’s not the people doing it, it’s Satan. It’s Satan dividing us.

Even if we have differences of opinion, we can still share our faith, keep an open minds, and be accepting of others. I share my thoughts, I don’t try to force them on anyone.

So have a good heart, whether it is good towards God, or good towards your fellow imperfect Christians, and no, no one is perfect. Not you, not me, not those pastors who view porn, or the other half that have sins of their own. We are all imperfect in Christ’s eyes, but if we refuse to give up, we continue to sincerely ask for forgiveness, and if we make every effort to repent, we will all be better in Christ. Amen.