" These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but they have removed their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men. Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people, a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men will perish, and the understanding of their prudent men will be hidden."- Isaiah 29:13-14 ( NKJV)
We need that marvelous work and that wonder to be accomplished in our lives, desperately. I am convicted when I read this Scripture. Often my praise and worship of God is truly heartfelt but sometimes.....I wonder, am I just giving Him lip-service? While I'm honoring Him with my lips, where is my heart? Because I know He only wants worship from me that is genuine and true.
Does my fear of Him boil down to tradition, habit, or religious ritual or is it a living and maturing relationship? Jesus condemned the Pharisees for revoking God's word because the traditions and laws they had created for themselves were more important to them than God's law. The doctrine they had formed was their highest priority. In the system of rules and regulations they had designed their hearts moved further and further away from a relationship with Him. That is one of the worst possible ways we could ever choose to live.
I love this Scripture because it encourages me that if my heart is far away from God, He is not content to keep me at a distance. He has a plan for action. He had a marvelous work to accomplish in the lives of the people who lived during Jesus' life as a man. He has a marvelous work to accomplish today.
Jesus quoted this passage from Isaiah in conversation with the Pharisees. They were questioning Him as to why His disciples broke tradition by eating with unwashed hands. To them, it was heresy. They had God's law, but then they added all these jots and tittles that were their own, and they came to believe that the two laws were one and the same. They were horrified by the slightest violation of the their precious regulations. Jesus answered them, as usual, by turning the question back on them, " And why do you break God's commandment because of your tradition? For God said:
'Honor your father and your mother; and the one who speaks evil of father or mother must be put to death.'
But you say, " Whoever tells his father or mother, 'Whatever benefit you might have received from Me is a gift committed to the temple'-he does not honor his father. In this way, you have revoked God's word because of your tradition. Hypocrites! Isaiah prophesied correctly about you when he said:
' These people honor me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.' "- Mathew 15:3-9
The law the Pharisees were concerned about was the tradition of washing your hands before eating. It was the aesthetic, and the pride that came with it. The law Jesus directed their attention to was one of the big 10- Honor your father and mother- and in the tradition the Pharisees enforced a child could refuse to support their mother and father with their property be making it Corban- a gift consecrated to God. God, however, is honored by obedience to His word. In this case, honoring your father and mother by helping to provide for them.
He says that they worshiped Him in vain. They weren't worshiping by truly fearing Him-it was the teaching of men, the doctrines they had created and the traditions they enforce. In their zeal for doing things they way they'd always done them, they pushed God out of their worship altogether- and all of it was in vain. I don't want to worship God in vain. He says He is seeking for worshipers Him who will worship in spirit and in truth-that is that way He Must be worshiped. For He is not a statue, a legend, a feeling, an idea or a concept. God is Spirit, He is the Living God. God has a definite Character and He is unique, He is " I AM WHO I AM" - to worship Him we have to do it in spirit and in truth.
What will we do when all our knowledge and personal wisdom fails us? We can't rely on how much we know about God- we must seek to know Him, intimately. He doesn't want our relationship with him to be like a fan of a celebrity or movie star where we ' follow' Him like we follow someone on twitter or friend Him on Facebook. We read the details of His life, we like some of the things He says, but we never try to personally contact Him- we never really get close. In that situation if He saw us He could say, " I never knew you." God wants us to get close- He wants to be in personal one-on-one contact with each child He calls his own. He wants us to have a real, vibrant relationship with Him. We have to want it too and seek Him out, for it to happen. The root of our love for Him is found in His love for us.
God can and does reveal Himself to us in amazingly personal ways so that that relationship with Him is possible. Jesus made it possible for us to get close to God- incredibly close. He is accomplishing wonders every day. He is performing a marvelous work. That is what salvation is. Recently I've heard several different Pastors and Ministers teach about revival and one extremely important things I've heard is this: If we want revival, we can have it because it starts with us.
Father, do that marvelous work in hearts. Change us, and perform wonders in our life. Amen and Amen!