Tuesday, March 29, 2016
“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esais prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6,7 KJV).
Friend, do you worship the God of the Bible “in vain?”
The reason you should ask yourself this pointed question is because many people have no idea what is true worship of the triune God. For example, consider the nation Israel’s condition in today’s Scripture. Or, better yet, travel back to Isaiah’s day, 700 B.C., and see the original quote: “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men” (Isaiah 29:13).
Over 2,700 years ago, empty, worthless religion had already crept into Israel. The Jews, the sole custodians of the Word of JEHOVAH God, traded it for the silly religious tenets of their heathen neighbors. Yea, they traded gold for “fool’s gold!” Oh, it was such a shame, and yet, they were too senseless to recognize the difference. They said, “How we love Adonai! Look, we keep His laws, we observe His feasts, we have His Temple, we have His priesthood,” on and on. But, there was no heart faith in what they were doing. They began to worship the religion than the God who had given them that religion! Furthermore, they had watered down that religion with the Talmud, rabbinical writings, manmade ideas passed off as “God’s Word.” (Sound familiar?!)
Recently, I talked with a church-going Christian who believed she was “worshipping God” while preforming a certain religious action. When I told her Scripture said nothing about that activity—that it was not “of faith” and thus vain (empty)—she was flabbergasted. Are we shocked? Nay! Millions worldwide have no clue what the Bible says. They are so busy in “vain worship,” just going through the motions with no genuine faith. Friend, I hope you are not one of these people. Back to Paul’s epistles, Romans through Philemon, or onward to more vain worship!