“The key difference between a Pharisee and a believer in Jesus is inner heart motivation. Pharisees are being good but out of a fearful need to control God. They don’t really trust him or love him. To them God is an exacting boss, not a loving father. Christians have seen something that has transformed their hearts toward God so they can finally love and rest in the Father. . . . Jesus Christ, who had all the power in the world, saw us enslaved by the very things we thought would free us. So he emptied himself of his glory and became a servant (Philippians 2). He laid aside the infinities and the immensities of his being and, at the cost of his life paid the debt for our sins, purchasing us the only place our hearts can rest, in his Father’s house.”
– Timothy Keller, The Prodigal God (New York, NY: Dutton, 2008), 86-87.
We spend so much time talking and worrying about practice that it drowns out God’s small voice telling us that it’s about motive and heart and relationship.
I recently told a friend who was facing one of those 50/50 decisions that perhaps God didn’t care which one they chose. They said that it was vital that they chose the right one. I said that perhaps God cared more about why they chose the one that which one they chose. A father doesn’t tell you every step to take, He may encourages us to take the right ones, but I’m sure He’s more interested in engaging with us as we make the decisions.