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Friday!
Proverbs!
Anyone who turns his ear away from hearing the law - even his prayer is detestable.
Proverbs 28:9 CSB
Just when I get a handle on grace, this proverb clangs.
It jars.
And yet if I turn away from the law, God's revelation of His design for my good, my flourishing, for our good as a community, if I refuse to hear and respond to that, then aren't I refusing, turning my back on God?
And if I'm doing that, then why am I even praying? 
Why would I expect my prayers to be accepted with grace?
This proverb was written maybe 1000 years before Jesus, at a time when the sacrificial system was in place, when not bringing the first fruits or the best was "detestsble" - it says something about the heart of the offerer.
And we find our way to the heart. When our heart has turned away from God our offerings are tainted. 
It's always about the heart. 
Our hearts. 
Jesus overwhelmed the sacrificial system with grace by becoming the sacrifice, but this proverb reminds us that its the heart that matters. 
Our hearts.
Oriented towards God, letting His truth orient our choices and the way we stand in the world. 
#proverbs
#wisdom
#somethingtochewon 
#itsaheartthing

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