October 20
“This people honors me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me.
And in vain they worship me,
TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE COMMANDMENTS OF MEN.”
Mark 7:6-7
What religious practices do you keep? And why do you keep them? Is it because that’s the way you were brought up? People generally continue with the traditions they were brought up with, but of what value are they?
“SURELY OUR FATHERS HAVE INHERITED LIES,
worthlessness and unprofitable things.”
Jeremiah 16:19
In this passage in the book of Mark, Jesus is targeting their TRADITIONS.
God does not desire religious traditions. He calls them vain. Worthless.
Many of us were raised to observe traditions as though they were religious practices that gain points with God. If you’ve done them all your life, they make you feel good. It’s easier to keep traditions than to change the heart, which is what the Lord truly desires.
“For you do not desire sacrifice,
or else I would give it;
you do not delight in burnt offering.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit,
a broken and a contrite heart…”
Psalm 51:16-17
NOTHING in my hands I bring,
simply to thy Cross I cling.
from “Rock of Ages”
Go before the Lord with no tradition, no religious practice. Go empty-handed and simply bow before him on your knees and open your heart to him. Say it out loud. “Father, I open my heart before you. Please show me what you want from me. Here is my heart. I’m willing to part with anything that displeases you.” And mean it. It’s not religion that God wants, it’s your heart.
