Isaiah 29: 13-15 -And so the Lord says, "These people say
they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away.
And their worship of me amounts to nothing more than human laws learned by
rote. Because of this, I
will do wonders among these hypocrites. I will show that human wisdom is
foolish and even the most brilliant people lack understanding." Destruction is certain for those who try to
hide their plans from the LORD, who try to keep him in the dark concerning what
they do! "The LORD can't see us," you say to yourselves. "He
doesn't know what is going on!"
Isaiah’s message here is pretty clear. We don’t always honor
our commitments…to others around us…or God. He sees everything we think…and do….or
will do in the future. We could never
hide anything from God. God is the smartest person ever…and no human will ever
learn the deepest secrets of how he created the world…let alone what day and
hour he plans on coming back to get us.
The real problem is that religion becomes too routine and
ordinary…and we slip from the realness of his presence into a self-sufficient
world of ‘I can do it myself.’ Jesus used
almost the same words when he spoke with the Jewish leaders of his day…he said
in Matthew 15:8-9… “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far away. Their worship is a farce, for they replace God's commands with their
own man-made teachings. " Mark even recorded his direct quote from
this passage in Isaiah in Mark 7:6-7.
The only way I know of to break the routines is to keep your worship and
religious practice focused on the model of Christ. To walk in humility…to put others before one’s
self….to really pray with fervent emotions…to study the Bible with passion…to
really seek God with your whole heart and soul…body and spirit.
I have to ask myself constantly if I am doing what I do for God because
of a habit….or because I feel in my heart it is what he wants me to do. And I
have to admit that I do things out of habit more than I should…because routines
feel safe. Routines help us set boundaries…and
are not evil in themselves….but they become tools of evil if we let the routine
become the reason for what we do. The Jewish laws were given to us ...the ten
commandments are still valid and good.
But Christ who came to fulfill the law…wants us to really look inside
them…and see the people they were written for….not the piece of paper they were
written on.
Father…thank you for the reminder that I need to guard my heart from
being too routine. Forgive me for the
times I have done things out of pure habit. Help me to see the deeper meaning
in each rule you gave us to follow…and see the reason you ask me to follow it…instead
of the mere words that make it take form on the paper. Amen.
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