Lip service

Therefore the Lord said:
“Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths
And honour Me with their lips,
But have removed their hearts far from Me,
And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men, - Isaiah 29.13

They honour me with their lips, but they have removed their hearts from me.

The problem of paying lip service to God without the heart to go with it is nothing new. The word of God condemns this lips only worship all through the scriptures. A religion of words is nothing at all.

Then the second part of the verse explains it – their fear of God is based on the commandments of men.

What a disaster! How bad is it when people claim to serve God – but only claim it with their mouths? How bad is it when people claim to fear the Lord, but their worship is guided not by the word of God – but on man’s rules and regulations.

This isn’t just a vague Old Testament notion. This happens today. All over the world Christians, or professing Christians, praise God with mouths but their lives don’t match it. All over the world people claim to fear God, but they try to prove it by what men expect out of them.

Our lives must always match up to pair words. We ought to fear God because of who He is and not because we are following man-made rules and regulations.

Our faith is not a show.