Command 27 : Beware of Leaven | Day 187

Purge Yourself of Leaven!

With great show, the scribes and Pharisees proclaimed their love for God outwardly, but inwardly their hearts were far from Him. Jesus said of them, “Ye hypocrites, well did Esaias [Isaiah] prophesy of you, saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:7-8).

Part of God's nature is that He is a jealous God (see Exodus 20:5). He wants more than just outward devotion; He wants our affections to be completely towards Him. God's demand for our total loyalty is clearly stated in the first and greatest commandment: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30).

By its nature, hypocrisy divides our affections between the things of God and the things of the world. James tells us: “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).

The greatest hypocrisy is saying that we love God with our mouths while secretly loving the world in our hearts.

If we have discovered the leaven of hypocrisy in our lives, what can be done to reverse its damaging influence? James 4 gives us several clear instructions:

• Submit yourself to God. We must first choose to place ourselves completely under God's authority and control.
• Resist the devil. We can resist Satan by using the powerful sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
• Draw nigh to God. God wants our intimate fellowship with Him through prayer.
• Cleanse your hands. We must confess and forsake all known sin in our lives.
• Purify your heart. This comes as we fill our hearts with God's Word and allow His Holy Spirit to freely remove anything in our lives that is not of God.

These steps should be taken in a spirit of humility, because “God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble” (James 4:6).

Double-mindedness will be conquered only as the Word of God purifies our hearts.

Several years ago, God re-confronted me with the need to love Him with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength. I asked Him for the grace to do this, and since then He has allowed me to experience a greater measure of the promise found in I Corinthians 2:9: “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

If the Holy Spirit has convicted you of hypocrisy, I urge you to follow the instruction in James today. Allow God to remove anything from your life that competes with your affection for Him. The more we allow Him to wash us with the water of His Word, the more we will experience His fullness in our lives, and hypocrisy will be purged.