“He replied, Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you hypocrites; as it is written: These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” Mark 7:6
The disciples were eating some food with unwashed hands. The Pharisees, then, complained to Jesus about the disciples eating with unwashed hands. This was breaking a tradition of a ceremony they would go through on a regular basis.
Jesus then quotes Isaiah 29:13, in stating that they honor with lips only and not with the heart. He calls them hypocrites. A hypocrite is a person who says one thing, but does something entirely different.
The Pharisees would honor God with their lips. They would say all the prayers, teach the Law, and sing the praises of God. At the same time, however, they would also cut a person down who did not follow all of their man-made rules. No where did the Law talk about washing hands before eating. Man came up with this rule. Their hearts were far from God.
Even today, hearts can be far away from God. In the church, many people get wrapped up in making sure the service is done correctly: opening ceremonies, three songs (and only hymns), offering, the sermon, prayer, and go home. Others get wrapped up in the color of the carpet, or type of pews. If anything is done outside of this, watch out.
Along with these petty issues, many also have the problem that during the service their mind is on other things. How many times is a person thinking about lunch or after the service while the sermon is being preached? Or while singing a worship song, they are looking at another person, thinking about how they are dressed or something they did? Or they are thinking about work?
In each of these, the outside actions are the same, but the heart is not in it for God. God is almost an afterthought. This is what Jesus calls a hypocrite.
Where is your heart today? Are your thoughts focused on God? When you are in a service, are worshipping God from the heart? Or are you just going through the motions?
Keep your heart, actions and focus on God at all times. Do not follow man’s traditions and forget about God.
I pray today that God will show you where you do not honor Him; that you will keep your focus on Jesus at all times; that you do everything you do with a heart for God and people; that God will help you to not just go through the motions; and that God will use you to build His kingdom.
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