Lip Service

 What we say is very important. Our words give an indication of what is in our heart, most of the time. The exception to this is when we make a conscious effort to say the right things, but our hearts are not in line with our words. Then we are being hypocrites. We are hypocrites when we put on an outward show for people, but we don't really mean what we says from our heart. There are few things that God hates more than this sin. Isaiah called out the people of God for being guilty of this in his day. (Isaiah 29:13) The prophet told them that God said that these people approached Him with their speeches to honor Him with lip service, yet their hearts were far from Him. At the same time, they used human rules to direct their worship of Him, so they could do it their way, not His way. This is a terrible indictment of any person or group of people.

God sees us if we are faking living the Christian life. He knows when we are just saying nice things about Him and others, but we don't mean what we say. He sees clearly when our hearts are far from Him. This is why we need to stop and take a personal inventory of our own heart. Is what we are saying and doing coming from our sincere love of God and our desire to obey Him in all we do? If not, what we say and do is worthless. God looks at our motives, just as much or more than He looks at our actions. We must never say one thing and be thinking another thing. We must worship the Lord as He directs, and we must do it from a heart of love for Him, or He rejects our worship. All of this is why Isaiah's strong warning to God's people is so applicable to us, as Christians, today. Let's do a heart check, and let's be determined to never give lip service to the Lord and the things of the Lord. May our sincerity in all we say and do be evident to everyone around us, but mostly be evident to the Lord.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Isaiah 30-33.