Ritual or Reverence?

"Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." - John 4:23 There is an old story about two families in the mountains of Kentucky who had been feuding for years. When a young man was asked why he was fighting the other family, he had no idea. It's what his family had always done. That was exactly the situation in Isaiah's time. When the Lord spoke to His people through the prophet Isaiah, it wasn't good news, because judgment was on the way. The reason? They were going through various rituals and religious activities, but they had forsaken the Lord, spurned the Holy One of Israel, and turned their backs on Him. Oh, they were bringing offerings, but they were meaningless. They celebrated various convocations--feasts of the new moon and special Sabbaths--but God said, "They have become a burden to me." Isaiah 1:15 records these words of the Lord: "When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen." They had kept the form but lost the meaning. And the problem is still with us today. A close pastor friend of mine spent twenty years in Christian work, but all the time he was drifting away from the Lord. He doubled the membership, tripled the budget, and built a 100,000-square-foot building. But today he weeps and says that not one person came to faith in Jesus Christ during that time. He had kept the form but lost the meaning. Christian, do you read the Bible merely to satisfy a habit? How do you approach your time of worship at church? Take a moment and reflect on Isaiah's words. God longs to restore the meaning to your walk of daily discipleship. Prayer Lord, I want to be the kind of worshiper You seek. Show me how to worship You in truth. Amen. To Ponder In our worship of God, what pleases Him most?