The teenager made their bed. At least it looked like it from the doorway. The comforter was spread out and pillows were posed. But a lift of the top layer exposed chaos—a sheet and blanket left in tangles.

Oddly enough, that’s what I thought of as I recalled the story of Jesus’ encounter with a rich, young man. The guy asked Jesus what He needed to do to receive eternal life. Jesus answered that he should obey the commandments and then listed commands about how to relate with others, like don’t commit adultery or steal, and love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, this man was quite pleased with himself. He told Jesus he had kept all those commands. But Jesus knew the man’s heart. His performance looked good on the outside, but inside, the rich man loved money.

When the man asked Jesus what else he should do, Jesus told him to give away his riches and follow Him. The story ends with, “But when the young man heard this, he went away sad, for he had many possessions” (Matthew 19:22 NLT).

Sometimes, a person hears and knows God’s Word but doesn’t follow through with doing it. Other times, as in this story, a person demonstrates acts of obedience without having a right attitude of the heart or sincere motives.

It reminds me of the religious leaders in Jesus’ day. Jesus called them hypocrites because they demonstrated religious behavior like long prayers and fasting but their motives were to impress others rather than out of love for God.

In one of Jesus’ sermons, He taught “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart” (Luke 6:45 NLT).

Let’s aim to have a good heart with right attitudes and motives and follow through with God-pleasing actions.