Lawyers and Widows and WYSIWYG

Jesus was all about sincerity and dedication. Those were and are two of his best qualities, IMHO (in my humble opinion, if you didn't know). Jesus was always truthful and and WYSIWYG ("What you see is what you get"). Some of those around him, not so much, you might say. Jesus appreciated
those who were sincere and dedicated, and warned those who weren't. In Mark 12:38-44, the gospel writer records Jesus teaching against the false sincerity of the lawyers, and  for emphasis, lays that alongside a clip about Jesus commending a poor widow who gave everything she had out of love for God -- compared to the fat-cats around her who were making a show of giving a tiny percentage of their wealth.

"That's right, Jesus, give it to 'em! We sure understand how important dedication is, we've been Christians for 50 years or more and we can tell the difference 50 yards away. And we...um, well, most of the time we're sincere and most of the time we give cheerfully all that we should. And we understand good theology and read our Bibles and pray -- a lot, mind you!"

But God doesn't want our performance any more than he wanted the widow's two tiny copper coins. He wants our hearts, and he doesn't have the slightest concern about how something looks on the outside. The Triune God is all about relationship -- being Father, Son and Spirit in perfect unity forever -- and his intention for the children he created is for us to be enveloped in his perfect love forever too:  "Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure" (Eph. 1:4-5).

WYSIWYG is a great way to approach God. The only way that's real, at least, because he already knows all the rest of it anyway. So if we're trying to hide from him, it won't work anyway. And if we're trying to put on a good face for everyone else, well...that's what the lawyers and the rich people were doing. And we don't want to make that mistake again, now do we? So let's just be "real" before God, and maybe even risk it before each other too. You never know what blessings might come, from the one who honors sincerity and dedication!