"'These people honor me with their lips,
   but their hearts are far from me.
They worship me in vain,
   their teachings are but rules taught by men.'"

This a staggering quote from Isaiah 29:13, which Jesus used against the pharisees. Now we read this, knowing full well that the pharisees were kinda like the "bad" guys if we're thinking in movie terminology. Over and over these guys never seemed to get it right. In any movie the "bad" guys need to be somewhat intelligent to make the movie even slightly interesting, or else it's a bust...like Battlefield Earth, potentially the worst movie of all time. Granted the pharisees, every once in a while, pulled out of their hats what they thought was a clever question only to be shut down by Jesus' response.

In our context (Mark 7:1-23) they asked about why Jesus' disciples ate with unclean hands according to the tradition. Jesus's first response was to quote Isaiah...a slightly strict response that would do more than cause a little stiffness in the neck. I imagine their eyes bulging out of their heads like an old Looney Toons cartoon. But the point is that we would be extremely unintelligent to move past this passage thinking to ourselves "wow those pharisees were dumb...glad I'm not like them. Next passage!" In fact, I'm pretty sure Jesus once said something along the lines of how we shouldn't say "man, glad I'm like that person." Just sayin.

In fact, we are more often akin to the pharisees than we think, and we'd only neglect this passage to Satan's delight, for our foul stench would thicken to point of disgust. Jesus' concern was that the pharisees had let go of God's commands to hold to their own. This is surely true today, but what makes this passage so interesting is what he says next: "you have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God in order to observe your own traditions!" (vs. 9) The Greek makes this more clear. It appears as if they refuse to recognize the authority of the Scripture so that they may cling to their own. It's a "fine" or a "well" way, meaning perhaps "convenient"- that they don't follow or use God's word to a "T" because it wouldn't fit well with their traditions. But here's the kicker...we do the exact same thing!!!! Isn't it true that we often read something about Jesus and his demand for obedience and we brush it off because it doesn't match the way we were raised, or what our church is teaching, or that it simply wouldn't fit into our lifestyle (and we all know that God blessed America...like the song....so our way of life means our consumerism is somehow ordained..????). We have plenty of convenient excuses for not following the commands of God.

All this is convicting to me, and hopefully to you, but what scares me is the quote from Isaiah! Could it be true that we are a people who "honor God with our lips but our hearts are far from him?" Or that we are worshipping him in vain? Truly, I think that's a scary thought if you consider the ramifications.

If this sparked in you a fear of God, then here are some questions you may want to ask yourself:

1. Are you blowing off God?
2. Which commands do you refuse to follow?
3. How might your past/upbringing have affected your unwillingness to change?
4. What do you need to reevaluate in your life?

Pray about it. Steep yourself in prayer and ask God for wisdom. Blessings to you as you continue to be refined by his grace.