Scripture
You wonder why the Lord pays no attention when you go without eating and act humble.
~Isaiah 58:3, CEV
Quote
True worship demands sincerity.
~Ya’akov
Most folks don’t know what a rut is but it is a deep impression made by a heavy object like a wagon wheel. In the old days before paved roads, wagons would cut deep ruts in the road and the more these ruts were used, the deeper they got. It was even possible to get into a rut and not be able to get out. When it came to Jehovah worship, Israel got into a rut. Their worship became mundane, humdrum and routine. They worshiped without thinking and without sincerity. Their worship was a act, a pretense, a charade. As the Brits would say, “Poppycock, pure poppycock.” Our word would be bologna or bull. The Israelites seemed eager to learn God’s commandments and they pretended to be obedient. They even talked about justice; they just didn’t put it into practice. They tried to con the LORD by wearing sackcloth, sitting in ashes and disfiguring their faces. Isaiah said, “They pretended to be as humble as a bent-over bush.”
In reality, they were not humble at all. All they thought about was themselves. They had no regard for either God or their neighbor. Isaiah told them to prove their sincerity by removing the chains from those they had enslaved unjustly. Set those free who had been abused; share food with the poor and give shelter to the homeless. Give clothes to those in need; don’t turn away your relatives. They play a song on Sunday Gospel…every Sunday on 105.7 FM…“IF YOU DON’T LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR, YOU DON’T LOVE GOD.”
How many people, what percentage of our Sunday morning crowd gets focused on God? How many of us clear our minds of all distractions and worldly clutter. Are we thinking about lunch, what we are going to do next week, or problems at work. Here is the bad thing: God sees the heart and He knows exactly what we are thinking. Do we sing songs we don’t mean like “I surrender all,” when we don’t even surrender ten percent. I don’t know why it is but it seems very easy to get into a worship rut and when someone tries to get us out of the rut, we get angry with them. Try singing the LORD a new song this week. Sit in a different place. It will not be as easy as you think.
Sorry about the blog yesterday. I had a headache that was so bad, it rendered me dysfunctional. I didn’t even attempt one. Very glad to be feeling better. I did it to myself: I got my Blood Pressure pills mixed up with Advil. I meant to take Advil and I took two additional BP pills.
Don’t you love this cool weather? The only thing that would make it better is to be in Pigeon Forge dinning at the Old Mill.
Tracey B. just finished three weeks of chemo and now she is doing immunotherapy [artificial stimulation of the immune system to treat cancer]: she will go back to Huston the last week in August. Pray for Tracey B.
Lilly G is scheduled to come toward the end of the month. Pray for Lilly G. She had a fun day at the Memphis Zoo yesterday. One of the workers at St. Jude set it up: I am sure they treated Lilly like a queen. You can’t beat St. Jude’s.