“Woe unto you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also.” Matt. 23:25-26
Today’s Christian Daily Devotional
Dallas Woodard once said: “It is not the inner life of the soul that we must aim to transform and then behavior will naturally and easily follow.” I think it would be safe to say he was talking to the tune of Matt. 23:25-26. Corruption in the church was just as rampant back in Jesus’ day as it is today. This deeply dangerous state of the church is an issue that has not gone away. The sin of hypocrisy hides itself well under the guise of religious “rules” and “rites of passage”. Recently for myself, I went to the funeral service in a church of a certain denomination (I am not a part of any personally). I heard many wise and profound words spoken from the word of God by the congregation that was in attendance. Although their lips uttered countless scriptures without hesitation or fumbling, their eyes were deadened to the meaning of what they were actually saying. Like a bland bowl of daily fiber, the words had lost their meaning in the minds of the ones who were speaking it. The dangers of repetition had sucked the life out of the very words of God. There was no life-flow springing forth. Although it is good to put scripture to memory, we must not blindly state words without truly looking at the lessons and meaning of them. My personal belief is that many church leaders and attendees do not go to church with the intention of being a hypocrite. The desire to know God is there. But, searching for Him and finding Him sincerely can never happen through a certain “formula” or ritual. Take a moment and think about it like this: If you wanted to develop a deeper relationship with your child, and you felt it was necessary to increase your dialog to achieve this, would you type up a script and have them read from it, just to satisfy your desire for intimacy? Intimacy is built through a series of many interactions. A script would be the “coldest” measure of conversation one could have with their child. God’s Word is important. It is powerful. The impact it has had on the world cannot be denied. But, the minute we stop praying we stop communicating with God. If we ignore prayer, everything else that we do beyond that (to find God) will be superficial. Have you felt like you have lost God? The simplest way to find Him is to start talking to Him. Start praying. He never left you.
“Dear Heavenly Father,
I admit that I have gotten caught up in a “religious rut”. I want you in my life and I need you in my life. Lately, I feel like you are so far away. I know it is not because you left me, it is because I have been ignoring you. Lord, there is nothing more important than my relationship with you. Help me to develop the habit of keeping my priorities right. Give me the wisdom to cut un-necessary “time-wasters” out of my schedule, so I can get back to intimacy with you again. When I sit down to read your word, give me supernatural understanding of it. In prayer, put on my heart the needs of others that so I will get out of my selfish state and get back into the mode of serving others, even if it is just praying for them. In Jesus’ precious name, bless my relationship with you God. I am sorry that I stepped away; draw me close to you again. I want to abide with you. Amen.”