IMPURE WORSHIP

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

“‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are safe’—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 7:8-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Today is a wonderful day of worship, the day we set aside to go to church and show our reverence and devotion to God for all He has done, all He is doing, and all He is yet to do. In places of worship around the world, believers came together as a family of faith to sing hymns, pray, and listen to sermons, all with the intention of coming into the presence of the Lord and growing in our faith, hope, and trust in Him.

But then what? What happens after we leave our churches and return home for a week of work and other activities before we get back together the following Sunday and do it all over again? Does the way we live show we are separated from the ways of the world, sanctified in righteousness to the place where we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us in the right ways? Or do we allow sinfulness to enter in and dictate what we do, only to run back into church for a quick round of repentance before leaving and going right back to doing wrong?

The Old Testament Israelites could be counted in that latter category as reflected in our scripture passage from Jeremiah 7 as we see the Lord chastising them for their behavior outside of worshipping Him in the temple. Look again at these words here:

But look, you are trusting in deceptive words that are worthless.

“‘Will you steal and murder, commit adultery and perjury, burn incense to Baal and follow other gods you have not known, and then come and stand before Me in this house, which bears My Name, and say, ‘We are safe’—safe to do all these detestable things? Has this house, which bears My Name, become a den of robbers to you? But I have been watching!” declares the Lord.  Jeremiah 7:8-11

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The people of Israel were a mess when it came to the way they were living and God wasted no time getting to the root of the issue for His people were trusting in deceptive words that were worthless.

Where did these worthless words come from?

It’s an easy question because if we are trusting in any words outside the word of God, then we are placing our trust in worthless words.

In the case of the Israelites, they had chosen to place their trust in pagan worship practices, bowing down and giving their devotion to false gods and idols which provided direction that was as lifeless and worthless as they were. You will never receive legitimate words from illegitimate sources. This is something we all need to keep in mind.

Back to the Israelites for a moment and note where the worthless guidance they were buying into was leading them. The Lord tells us that they were stealing, murdering, committing adultery and perjury, and as stated prior, bringing their worship to Baal and other gods. If you didn’t notice, each of these actions was in direct violation of God’s most basic commandments given to the early Israelites at Mount Sinai via Moses (Exodus 20). When we allow sin to dominate our lives, it leads us away from being who God wants us to be, effectively separating us from Him and His will.

That’s exactly what happened to the people of Israel who thought then that simply coming into the temple and worshipping God would be enough to atone for their wickedness.

They thought wrong because all God could see was a people who were impure in their worship unto Him. The Israelites did not come before God seeking to conform to His ways and be transformed by His Spirit and word. No, they were simply going through a ritual, showing up at the temple like they were supposed to and going through the motions until they could be set free to go right back to their sinful ways.

You know what, there are a lot of people who are just like this today. They get dressed up and sit in the pew for an hour or so, singing and reading the Bible and praying and listening to a sermon like everyone else but as soon as they walk out of the church, it’s back to sinning and acting in every way like they had never gone to church in their life.

Here’s the thing about that.  

God is watching. He is.

He watched the Old Testament Israelites as they sinned in their lives outside of worship and He’s been watching believers as they have repeated the mistakes of the past ever since.

In the end translation, we never get away with sin. God knows everyone we have committed. And don’t think for a moment that there will not be consequences for the transgressions we commit. There always are. Just go back and look at what happened to the Old Testament Israelites as their land was attacked and left in ruins while they were hauled away into seventy years of captivity.

This is where living in sin and entering the temple as impure worshippers got them.

Where will it get us today?

Let’s not find out and we can do that by living in the Lord’s righteousness each and every day, setting ourselves apart from the ways of the world by devoting ourselves fully to the Lord’s word, will, and way.

He will always lead us to a life that is full of worth and pleasing in His sight, a life that will allow us to worship Him in purity and truth.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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