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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