“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” – Matthew 15:8-9 KJV
Many falsely assume that they can give God whatever they desire with the expectation that He will gladly accept their offerings simply because they feel good about what they’re doing. They say, “All that matters to God is what’s in the heart.” But if we aren’t giving God what He wants from us then how could we honestly say that what’s in our hearts is pleasing or acceptable to Him? Surely if God has our hearts our worship of Him will compliment what He has commanded of us, right? In other words, we will seek to give Him what He wants from us, not what we think He should have. And what does He want from us? Well, He wants our love; and loving God involves keeping His commandments.
“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.” – Deuteronomy 6:5 KJV
“Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.” – Leviticus 19:18 KJV
“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.” – 1 John 5:2-3 KJV
“Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.” – Revelation 14:12 KJV
“Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city.” – Revelation 22:14 KJV
“And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” – 1 John 2:3-4 KJV
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.” – John 14:15 KJV
A Lesson from Cain and Abel
“And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD. And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering: But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper? And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.” – Genesis 4:1-12 KJV
Let us learn from the example of Cain that the idea that ‘as long as it feels right it must be OK with God’ is false. God is very specific about what He wants from us. If we choose to give Him something other than what He asks of us while knowing that He has commanded us to give Him something else instead, then it doesn’t matter how good we might feel about it, our worship of Him is in vain because it does not agree with His will.
Cain’s offering to God was rejected because it was given in substitution to what God had actually wanted from Him. It’s not that the offering itself was useless; it just didn’t fit the context of what God had expected from him. God expected Cain to worship Him in a certain way, but he chose to worship God as he saw fit, and thus he elevated his thoughts above the voice of God. So it is the same with many today, who either add to or take away from what God has commanded of us. Of course, this is nothing short of idolatry. For when people allow their thoughts to take the place of God’s thoughts they are essentially trying to create a god in their own image.
Incidentally, just as Cain fostered hatred within his heart towards his brother for seeking to do what was right before God (the opposite of what Cain was doing), so also do many have hatred in their hearts for those who tell them that they ought to keep God’s commandments. That is, they seek to tear down good-willed brothers and sisters in Christ in order to uphold and preserve their man-made traditions. They do this because they are too prideful to admit that they could be wrong. Not only have I seen this happen time and time again, I have felt it as I have been antagonized and rejected by such people for encouraging them to keep God’s commandments. What irony!
Listen, if you find yourself becoming angry because someone is telling you that you need to keep God’s commandments then there is something terribly wrong with your relationship with God. For the Bible is very clear on this matter; God wants us to keep His commandments, as that is His way for us to express love for Him and His people. And if you feel that I am in error then just go back and look at the Scriptures that I have provided in this article. It can’t be any clearer: God wants us to keep His commandments!
Obedience to God is worship of God and worship of God is love for God. Therefore if we aren’t obeying God then we aren’t worshiping Him, and if we aren’t worshiping Him then we aren’t loving Him. Instead, we are merely serving ourselves while trying to give others the impression that we’re giving God what He wants from us. Let’s not follow in the steps of Cain; rather, let’s take heed to the voice of God by taking what He gives and giving what He takes; for as the song goes, “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey…”
Indeed, obedience is something that we should desire to give God each moment of the day; for Jesus didn’t go to the cross to give us a license to sin but to save us from it!
