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Sunday, January 29, 2012

{Your Heart Here} Week 3


January 22, 2012

Isaiah 29:13-14
And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.  And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.  Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”

The Far Away Heart
God’s people did not always follow their creator, deliverer, and savior.  Despite all the warnings.  Despite the very public and sacred commitment that was made.  Despite all the commandments designed to keep the people focused on God.  The people gave their hearts to other things.  For some it was idols and false gods.  Others gave their hearts to their business or family instead of God.  The worst offenders were those who gave their hearts to religion and religious practices while ignoring God Himself. 

"They honor me with their lips”, but “Their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules”.   These are God’s people standing in God’s house outwardly doing all that God had commanded, while setting a public example of what it means to be God’s person while not actually listening to God.  It is a half-hearted witness.  It is faith expressed outwardly while being ignored internally.  It is religion motivated by something other than following God.  They are described and hypocrites and fools. 

Yet God did not turn away from his people.  Instead, he decided to astound them with his works, his wisdom, and his intelligence.  God sets the rules for worship and the life of his people. Have our “rules” become more important than God’s rules and work?  

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