“Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone.” (Matthew 23:23)

Paul says in Romans 7:14, “For we know that the law is spiritual: but I am carnal, sold under sin.”

There is an old saying that goes something like this, “You can’t see the forest for looking too hard at the trees” (or vice versa).

Jesus said in John 4:24, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” 

Just as the Scribes and the Pharisees made sure that they paid tithe with the things that could be seen by men with the physical (or natural) eyes; they ought to have also made sure that they gave also that which can be seen by God and with the spiritual (or super-natural) eyes as well. The Scripture says in John 4:23:

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” 

God is looking for those who serve Him through the inner man.

The Psalmist says in Psalms 51:17, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.”

Even the LORD said in 1 Samuel 16:7:

“But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.”

In many other passages in the Bible, we read about how God sees things differently, compared to how we see them. Even after man has been made in the image and likeness of God, we do not always represent Him and stand in His stead properly, as we are supposed to do, in the here and now. We were created first and foremost for His Will and His Good Pleasure. We were created to please Him! And by pleasing Him, we help to please our neighbor.

In our obedience to the Law, we tell the world that there is judgment for sin; that God is a God of Mercy, who will not give us the punishment that our sins require; only if we have faith that His Son Jesus Christ has suffered the punishment for us. He is the only One who has kept the whole law!! It is not possible that we can do the same, because James 2:10 says, “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all.”

Since we are true believers and have truly been Born-Again, then we need to stay focused on the Bigger Picture. We should keep in mind the whole truth of Galatians 6:7-8:

“Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (8) For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.”

We should also remember 2 Corinthians 5:7, “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”

There is another old saying that goes something like this, “A picture is worth a thousand words.” In order for us to see the Bigger Picture, we need not only to see the picture, but to hear and understand what the Artist or Painter is trying to express or say.

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory;” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

“While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18)

Look for the eternal in the temporal.