Isaiah 27-29

July 29

Isaiah 27-29

"The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." (Isaiah 29:13, NIV)

God is getting fed up with Israel’s focus on the rules. They say one thing and do another, but with their lips they praise God. Many people think of the Old Testament as following a list a rules, but that was not God’s intention. God, since creation, wants a relationship with His creation. He made us for relationships.

When sin became a reality, relationships were broken; the relationship with God and with other people. But God was not satisfied with this brokenness, and from the beginning God had a plan. He would lay a precious cornerstone, Jesus is that cornerstone. He is the foundation on which true faith is built. Not a faith built on rules, but a foundation built on a relationship. God had a plan to restore and re-create through this new relationship.

When the rules are put aside and the relationship becomes the focus, the rules are obeyed not because we have to obey, but because we want to walk in obedience with our God whom we love. Then we come near to God and honor Him with our lips because He has filled our hearts with love for Him and love for other people. Worship becomes worship.