Isaiah 29
In this chapter, God reveals what the object of His desire is when it comes to worship: “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 based on merely human rules they have been taught. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.” (vs 13-14)
God doesn’t want us to worship Him because He has designed some list of rules that need to be kept. He wants us to worship Him because He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants us to worship Him because He wants us to fall in love with Him, to give Him our hearts, and to commit ourselves to living life for and with Him.
He doesn’t want obedience to a checklist. He wants us.
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This is also true in marriage. If my husband tiptoed around the house, trying to only say things he thought I wanted to hear, we might have a “peaceful” relationship, but there would be no intimacy in it. Without honest interaction, we would never really get to know each other. In the same way, even if we honor God with our lips, even if we say all the right things, it won’t ultimately mean anything if we never open our hearts to Him.
What God wants more than our good behavior, best clothes, and reverent language is our hearts, just as they are. He wants our honesty, our vulnerability, and our time. So, if you’re planning to go to “worship” this weekend, remember to take your heart. It’s at the very top of God’s wish list.
Photo © Unsplash/Isaac Quesada