Honoring God with Words, Not Hearts

If you study the background of the book of Isaiah, you’ll discover that Isaiah prophesied during a time when many people were involved in idol worship, greedy business practices, and injustice. But they were also pretending to honor God.*  

The same is true today. 

It’s important that we have a quiet time and regular Christian fellowship, but these things mean nothing if our lives are focused on worldly pursuits and selfish desires. 

It’s important that we affirm that Scripture is God's unchanging Word, but it means nothing if we excuse and justify abortion, immoral lifestyles, and other culturally approved sins. 

“The Lord says: ‘These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.… Woe to those who go to great depths to hide their plans from the Lord, who do their work in darkness and think, ‘Who sees us? Who will know?’” (Isaiah 29:13-15) 

We can fool others (Matthew 6:1), and apparently some folks can even fool themselves (Matthew 7:21-23), but we can never fool God (Galatians 6:7-8). 

So let’s make sure that we are sincere about our faith. Let’s repent of our secret sins and false motives remembering “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

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* I recommend these eight-minute videos of Isaiah. They're easy to follow and fully illustrated: Bible Project, Isaiah Part 1 and Bible Project, Isaiah Part 2. And it's always a good thing to better understand God's Word!

I also encourage you to check out the Wisdom for Life Devotional. It contains 100 one-minute devotions to challenge, encourage, instruct, and inspire your love for God's Word. 

If you'd like to know why Wisdom for Life might be a good gift for you or your loved ones, see 10 Reasons You'll Love Wisdom for Life.

Bible Love Notes