Spiritual Check-Up
In Matthew 15:7-9, Jesus quotes the prophet Isaiah saying “Hypocrites! Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: ‘These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.‘”
O God, please protect us from becoming hypocrites. If we already are, please heal us quickly and remove it far away from us. Do we see a pattern developing from the last few verses? If it started with the judgmental exalted attitude, which then led to compromise to satisfy our fleshly desires, it naturally ends with being hypocrites in the eyes of God and those around us. O how the Lord despises the hypocrite, but loves and rejoices at the sight of the humble, lowly, and meek at heart. We have to ask ourselves these questions. It is a spiritual check-up. Are we only drawing near to God with our mouths? Are we only honoring Him with our lips? Are our hearts far from Him? Are we worshiping in vain? Are we teaching our brothers and sisters man-made commandments? We can so easily fall into these traps leading the lost away from the true and living God. Let’s pray that God keeps us from falling into these wicked ways. We pray not because we think God can’t, but because we know He can and that we can’t do it on our own ability and strength. We need to continue to be filled with the Holy Spirit on a daily basis. In Jesus name. Amen.