October 9, 2018
Matthew 15:1-9 New Living Translation (NLT)
Centuries after the Israelites were released from Babylonian captivity, they were still teaching and practicing religious rituals that had been added to God’s law during their captivity. The laws God handed down to his people were about fostering a loving relationship with Him and with everyone else; a picture of a worshiper. God’s fifth commandment is: “honor father and mother so your days may be long…,” yet the traditions of man, in our reading, had strangely become equal with the commands of God.
Every day we must invite God to cleanse us from incorrect thinking and impure motives; to lay our lives down as living sacrifices holy and acceptable to God. Our worship of him depends on the Truth we are willing to believe and live. Worship is agreement and oneness with God. Worship is an internal individual action based on the authority of Christ we are willing to yield to with our daily lives. Clearly, we are either in agreement with God’s Word as worshipers or our worship can sadly become a farce.