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Hot and Cold
Are you hot or are you cold? Are you going the right way or the wrong way?
Matthew 15:8-9
When I was young, living at home, I was a middle school boy. And so as middle school boys do, I lost a lot of things. My mom almost always knew where those things were. So I go and ask her, and usually they were sitting right out in the open. So to encourage me to use my eyes instead of just immediately asking, instead of coming out and telling me where that object was, she would do hot and cold with me. I’m sure you’ve played that game, too.
Are you hot or are you cold? Are you going the right way or the wrong way? When it comes to that game, obviously the success of it boils down to if the person giving directions knows where the object is. During Jesus’s earthly ministry, he spoke to the Pharisees about this. They were the spiritual leaders in Israel guiding and directing people to salvation, but they were directing people to the wrong place. They were leading people to the wrong spot for that salvation. Jesus speaking about them, says this.
“These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. They worship me in vain, teaching human rules as if they are doctrines.” (Matthew 15:8-9 EHV)
These Pharisees had created rules on top of rules, thinking that it was through obedience, through accomplishing tasks, through their own work that they could be saved. Jesus came to teach people a different way, the right way, the only way to salvation. It is through obedience, but not through ours, through his. He lived and he died, and he earned that righteousness for us as God and man. He was uniquely qualified to fulfill the law perfectly, to go to the cross to pay for those sins in our place. It’s only through faith in Him and His obedience and his sacrifice that we can be saved.
Today, there’s a lot of voices out there giving us directions, telling us which way to go, telling us what’s truly important, telling us what’s hot or cold, what really matters in life. Cutting through all of this noise comes the clear Word of God, which tells us and reminds us of the one thing needful is Jesus. It’s knowing and believing that he has done everything necessary to win for us salvation, knowing that through his life and death he has fulfilled the law. He has paid for our sins, and he has made us his people through faith in him, that’s who you are. You are a forgiven child of God and you will be in heaven with him forever.
When life gets confusing, think about which voice you’re listening to. Go back to the one place where you know it has the answer, where it has the comfort that your heart seeks: the truth of God’s Word. Amen.
