Daily Devotional for Sunday, October 1

Hypocritical Hearts

“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.

The idea of lip service has been around in the English language for a good while, at least since the 1500s when the phrase was lip labor. That particular use of the phrase seems to really work, as the idea behind the phrase is that of someone expressing verbal support of something, but doing nothing to actually help the idea expressed succeed. In the case of lip labor, the only thing being worked was a person’s lips!

The idea expressed by Isaiah is not exactly the same but is very close. The people made a big deal of talking the talk, but did little in the way of walking the walk. This was similar to the Pharisees, who had elevated adherence to the Law to a place higher than the love for God. As most legalists do, they thought their way of salvation, based on their efforts, was better than God’s way. They were full of obedience but empty of grace and love. As with every case in religions of merit-based righteousness, they had it backwards. There is no such thing as merit based righteousness because to be righteous is to be perfect. To barely miss the mark is still to miss the mark, and fail to be righteous.

Do you understand that you can never make yourself righteous in the eyes of God? Your own efforts will never restore you to Him or keep you as His own. Why? Because you and I are imperfect, and God is perfect. What do we do then? Let Jesus clean you from the inside out. Anything else is just empty words. 

JUST A THOUGHT: Our good works should come from an abundance of love, not from an abundance of our own sense of accomplishment. 

Wally Fry