God had rescued His people, chosen them among all other nations. He called them His treasured possession (Deuteronomy 7:6). He loved them deeply. He poured out His blessing upon them. And in return? He asked that they worship Him… I mean, He was the King of Kings, the Holy One, the Faithful One. He was the Creator of the Universe. And throughout the Old Testament, the people brought their sacrifices, taught the Scriptures, and commanded that the people obey Him. Yet, God said: “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me” (Isaiah 29:13). Jesus quoted these words in Matthew 15 when he was speaking about the religious leaders. Hence, their actions were right, but their motives were wrong.
In speaking to the Church at Ephesus, Jesus said that they were doing some really good things… they were patient, and they did not tolerate sin. But in that same message, He said, “I have this complaint against you. You don’t love me or each other as you did at first” (Revelation 3:4)! Maybe Jesus wanted them to examine WHY they were doing what they were doing. What their motives were. Here’s the thing… our motives behind our actions are more important than the service itself. And God ALWAYS knows our motives. We read in Proverbs 16:2: “People may be pure in their own eyes, but the LORD examines motives.”
This is speaking to me this morning. I may not always have the purest of motives. With that said, let’s look at bad motives vs. good motives. What are some bad (or impure motives) that could be driving our Christian actions (or the work we do)? It might be obligation, duty, self-gratification, to be seen, applause of man, to make me feel good about myself. I might go so far to say that our motives could be based on jealousy or covetousness. These things should make us cringe, right? But before we dismiss these things as being my motives, maybe we should examine them further.
So, what are the right (pure) motives we should have… the motives that should be driving us in Christian service? Those things would be love, gratitude, and worship. We should want to serve the Lord because of a deep love for Him, gratitude for all that He has done for us, and as an act of worship. These are the motives that please the Lord. These are the motives that bring forth great praise and blessings. These are the motives that warm His heart. Our service, sacrifices, and worship should come from the deep places of our hearts. Our hearts need to be engaged in everything we do.
It’s always a good thing to examine our motives and to ask God to examine our motives. Maybe our key verse today should be our prayer before we do anything: “Lord, put me on trial and cross examine me. Test my motives and my heart!” Let’s make sure our motives are right.