Most of us haven't murdered anyone this week, so we figure we're keeping the sixth commandment just fine—but Jesus suggests the problem runs deeper, into the anger we harbor and the contempt we broadcast, long before any blade is drawn.
We keep chasing what looks impressive—the king like everyone else's, the success the world promises—forgetting it all carries an expiration date, like a freshly cut tree that soon dries out and becomes trash. Samuel falls into the same trap sizing up Jesse's sons in 1 Samuel 16, until the Lord stops him cold: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.
We begin a new series in Genesis 4, looking at the impact of sin on early human beings… and all of us today.
We’re good at looking pure—saying the right things, following the right rules, putting on the kind of life that earns approving nods—and that’s precisely the trap Jesus names in Matthew 5:8 when he calls the pure *in heart* blessed, not the pure in appearance.
