This People Draw Near Me With Their Mouth

Isaiah 29:13, “Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”

This verse is true about many people in today’s world. How many people do we see that claim to be followers of Christ or claim to be devoted Christians, but you can tell their heart is not in it? This happens far more often than it should. People live one life within the walls of a church, but the live and act completely different outside of church.

Though we cannot keep others from doing this, we can keep ourselves from doing this. It is not enough to say that we are close with God and following His plan for our lives. Our heart must be in it as well. Otherwise, it is all a show. Some will put on a performance on the outside to appear as a Godly person when inside, their heart is far from the Lord. This is called hypocrisy. We can fool those around us, but we cannot fool God. God sees what is on the outside as well as what is on the inside. This should not be an excuse to stop living right so our outside matches our inside. It should be a challenge to make our heart right so both our inside and outside are right with God.

Let us focus today on not only honoring God with our mouth as the verse stats, but let us also strive to honor God with our heart. Let us not just appear close to God on the outside, but let us be close to God on the inside. Living a double life is too much work. Let us stop “playing the game” of the Christian life and surrender to God. There is no greater peace than knowing you are right with God on the outside and inside and knowing you are in the center of His will.