HOLLOW WORSHIP

Can I pray for you in any way? Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com.

In Christ, Mark

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

** Follow The Christian Walk on Twitter @ThChristianWalk

** Like posts and send friend requests to the author of The Christian Walk, Mark Cummings on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/mark.cummings.733?ref=tn_tnmn

** Become a Follower of The Christian Walk at http://the-christian-walk.blogspot.com

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

“Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings—boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.

Amos 4:4-5

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

Ever wonder how many people go to church and worship each week but then leave the church and live in sin the rest of the time?

It happens more times that any Christian would care to admit as professed believers live a counterfeit faith life, only going to church to put on a show and go through the motions. I refer to this as hollow worship because there is no real internal dedication or devotion to the Lord, only an artificial outward shell.  

As we continue to look at the verses of Amos, Chapter 4, we find that this problem of hollow worship is not just a modern day issue; it happened back in Old Testament times as well in the faith life of the Israelites. Look again at this passage:

“Go to Bethel and sin; go to Gilgal and sin yet more. Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tithes every three years. Burn leavened bread as a thank offering and brag about your freewill offerings—boast about them, you Israelites, for this is what you love to do,” declares the Sovereign Lord.  Amos 4:4-5

God’s word tells us that the Israelites were going through their worship obligations. They were bringing their sacrifices and tithes, bragging about their spiritual goodwill toward God. The scriptures tell us they loved to boast about all they were giving to God but something important was missing. You see, God didn’t covet their material sacrifices as much as He did their internal ones. He wanted them to give Him their hearts.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t happening. The Israelites were sinning in what were intended to be holy places like Bethel and Gilgal. You may recall that Bethel actually translates out to mean the “house of God” and was the place where many people met with God such as Jacob who had a dream about the stairway to heaven while at Bethel. Gilgal was the place where the Israelites camped after crossing the Jordan and entering Canaan for the first time, the place where God told them to erect a monument made up of twelve stones, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. In Amos’ day, both of these places had lost their luster of sanctity, no longer honoring God through righteousness but rather harboring His people who were inclined to wickedness.

Friends, God doesn’t want us to just put on a show when it comes to worship. He wants us to give Him our all just as He gives His all to us. He just doesn’t want some of our devotion He wants all of it. And He doesn’t just want a portion of our commitment, He wants us to be all in when it comes to serving Him.

In the end translation, God doesn’t want us to act like we are set apart from sin when we aren’t. He can see through any front we try and put up so why do we even try in the first place. We may fool others but we will never fool the Lord. Ever.

Today and every day, let us all make sure we fully give all our honor, glory, and praise to the only One who can lead us to righteousness, the only One who can lead us away from the sin, the only One who can redeem and save us.

Let us worship our Lord with all our heart and mind and soul and strength, every second of every minute or every hour or every day.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com