Fake it till you make it!!

Matthew 15:8  These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me.

Have you ever heard the term “fake it till you can make it”?  This is what this verse means to me.  To “fake it till you can make it” is a term used, from my understanding to do something afraid, or to fake something until it becomes second nature to you.  You fake it, pretend that it is something you are capable of and then do it until it becomes something you are capable of.

In none of my understandings, or ways I have heard this phrase being used, could I ever imagine using it in reference to Jesus.  I would never tell someone in relation to their relationship with God, to fake it till they made it. 

Never… No.

God can sense that fakeness, the disconnect between your heart and His.  God will never fall for the “fake it till you make it” relationship, but we might!

This particular verse in Matthew, was once again referring to a group of Pharisees and scribes who were harassing Jesus, and the work that He was doing.  He was healing people, well let me rephrase that, people were touching His garment and being healed.  Of course the Pharisees wouldn’t approve of this behavior and needed to call Jesus out on it.

The Scribes and Pharisees were upset because the followers of Jesus had not washed their hands before they sat down to eat.  I know, petty, but this is all they could use to come after Jesus and try to prove that He wasn’t who He really was.

Jesus then returns their polite quip with one of His own.  Jesus points out to them in Matthew verse 3-4 that and I am paraphrasing here, that if they want to start living by the rules given in the day of Moses, then maybe they should pay attention to the rules on honoring your father and your mother.  

I would love to have seen this with my own two eyes.  I am sure that they snickered to themselves, here we have Him, and He can’t get around this one for sure.  There is no way to let His disciples off the hook for not washing their hands before they sat to eat, yes, we have Him now.  HA is what I say.  HA! 

You can’t trap the one who knows all things, and since they continued to be ignorant to the fact that Jesus was indeed, the Savior, the Messiah, the son of God, they kept trying to trip Him up.

Impossible…                                                                                            

In verse eight we are seeing that Jesus is speaking to them and saying you act like you are drawing near to Me with your mouths and you honor Me with your lips, but with your hearts you are far away from me.  You don’t know Me with your heart, and that’s the most important thing for us to use in connecting to God.

Jesus is saying to them, you play the role, you “fake it till you can make it” but shame on you because I see through your rouse, I see through the game you are playing but yet, you are still to ignorant and pompous to hear the words I AM speaking directly to you!

This had to be incredibly difficult and mentally trying for Jesus.  He was constantly questioned about who He was and how He had the abilities He has, but yet when He would explain and tell you how, no one wanted to believe His words.  I would be so frustrated with that level of ignorance.

Jesus explains a little more, how important it is to have your heart clean and connected to Him. 

In Matthew 15:11 It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles (him).

I don’t know about you but I can definitely use this verse every day, to keep me on my toes.

You see, we can say whatever we want with our mouths, but the real truth, the real answer, is the heart.  What does your heart say?  Your truth will be exposed through your heart; it is always just a matter of time for that to happen.

I was watching a popular southern pastor on television a while ago and he said I don’t need to even talk to someone to know who they are.  He said all I need is your cell phone and your bank statement to know who you are.   How true is that!  You will see the desires of the person by the bank statement and you will see the quality of the person through their friends.

This is what Jesus is saying.  Don’t expect to fool your heart into believing what your mouth is saying.  They don’t have to be working together, because eventually the heart will expose the truth.

Jesus knows the things that are precious to us, He knows the things that we hold near and dear, he knows, because He knows our hearts.  He knows that if you are in church Sunday morning but really are wondering about what is happening with the game that’s on, He’s gonna know that.  He knows that the person, who is just singing because they want to give off a good appearance, isn’t connected to the songs they are singing, how, because He knows our hearts.

God knows the conditions of your heart, the love in your heart, the hate in your heart, the jealousy in your heart and He knows where He rates in your heart.

When we try to deceive God with our lips, our gestures, our words, we are only making a fool of ourselves, just like the Pharisees did with Jesus.   The words we speak will eventually unlock the truth of your heart and the more you try to build walls around your heart, the harder it will be for you to allow God to make the changes He needs to make.

This won’t be hard for God, please note, it will be hard for you!  Just like Jesus told the Scribes exactly what and how they were doing wrong and making a mockery of the “law” they loved so much, God will do the same thing with you when you hide the truth in your heart. 

Understand that God doesn’t appreciate a person who “fakes it till they can make it” attitude when it comes to Him and loving Him.  When it comes to God and where He is in your heart you best open your mouth and make sure that the words you are speaking are in line with the love coming out of your heart!!