13-17"Quit your worship charades.
I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I'll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you've been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don't have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
Isaiah 1:13-17 Message Bible
I believe these verses are fairly straight forward, and there are two things that I gain from them. First, it appears to me that God would rather see us perform acts of love all the time than to talk about love in church while hurting people in the world. God doesn't fall for false pretenses. He knows who we are both inside and outside the church doors. He wants us to love Him, to love others, and to show it in our actions.
The second thing that I gain is an understanding that God can choose not to hear our prayers. If we don't have clean hands and pure hearts, we can pray all night long and He may choose not to hear us. I think this would be one of the most important arguments you could have as to why we should seek purity. Without answered prayers, we are at a loss. And without purity, we may not have answered prayers.
Search your heart today. Are you living what you speak? Are you the same person inside the church as you are outside of the church? Do you love people on Sunday and hurt them on Monday? These are tough questions. We are all guilty of failing in this way at some point of time. Ask the Lord today to help you have clean hands and a pure heart.
I can't stand your trivial religious games:
Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings—
meetings, meetings, meetings—I can't stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them!
You've worn me out!
I'm sick of your religion, religion, religion,
while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance,
I'll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray,
I'll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you've been tearing
people to pieces, and your hands are bloody.
Go home and wash up.
Clean up your act.
Sweep your lives clean of your evildoings
so I don't have to look at them any longer.
Say no to wrong.
Learn to do good.
Work for justice.
Help the down-and-out.
Stand up for the homeless.
Go to bat for the defenseless.
Isaiah 1:13-17 Message Bible
I believe these verses are fairly straight forward, and there are two things that I gain from them. First, it appears to me that God would rather see us perform acts of love all the time than to talk about love in church while hurting people in the world. God doesn't fall for false pretenses. He knows who we are both inside and outside the church doors. He wants us to love Him, to love others, and to show it in our actions.
The second thing that I gain is an understanding that God can choose not to hear our prayers. If we don't have clean hands and pure hearts, we can pray all night long and He may choose not to hear us. I think this would be one of the most important arguments you could have as to why we should seek purity. Without answered prayers, we are at a loss. And without purity, we may not have answered prayers.
Search your heart today. Are you living what you speak? Are you the same person inside the church as you are outside of the church? Do you love people on Sunday and hurt them on Monday? These are tough questions. We are all guilty of failing in this way at some point of time. Ask the Lord today to help you have clean hands and a pure heart.
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