Daily Devotional for Tuesday, September 26

In Vain Do They Worship

“He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, But their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me. Teaching for doctrines the commandments of men,” Mark 7:6, 7

The story is told of a zoo that was noted for their great collection of different animals. One day the gorilla died, and to keep up the appearance of a full range of animals, the zookeeper hired a man to wear a gorilla suit and fill in for the dead animal. It was his first day on the job, and the man did not know how to act like a gorilla very well. As he tried to move convincingly, he got too close to the wall of the enclosure and tripped and fell into the lion exhibit. He began to scream, convinced his life was over…until the lion spoke to him: “Be quiet, or you’re going to get us both fired!”

The Pharisees had done serious harm to the teachings of the Law of Moses and had created a set of rules by which they would determine a person’s righteousness. In this instance, they accused the disciples of unrighteous acts simply by eating without washing their hands. Not only did the Pharisees twist the Word of God and abuse their authority, they had woefully convinced themselves of their own righteousness.

The Old Testament Law was meant to show us our need for Christ, not to create a religious system of oppressive rules and regulations. The Pharisees revealed to us the depravity of human nature and the possibility that any of us can fall into hypocrisy in the practice of our faith. Every Christian should guard themselves from becoming like the zoo employees masquerading as real animals. 

FINAL THOUGHT: You may follow every command of Scripture and still be far from God. Only through repentance and faith can we worship God in spirit and in truth.

Steven Ridings