“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:”
Isaiah 29:13
This verse speaks of the spiritual state of the Jews at this time. They claimed to be God’s children and even appeared so. They did all the “things” that were expected of one of His. They talked the talk and even appeared to walk the walk outwardly. But the Lord saw their motives. Luke 16:15 says, “And he said unto them, Ye are they which justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” In this verse, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees for their outward show that was inconsistent with their hearts. He reminded them that God knew their hearts and was not acceptant of their hypocritical actions. In the same way, the Lord sees our hearts. He knows our motives. Going back to Isaiah, these people had slipped into a routine. No longer was their worship and obedience out of love but rather familiarity and practice. Is our religion real or has it become routine? Are we sincere?
What causes the change? This verse says, “...but have removed their hearts far from me.” We find that the issue stemmed from their heart. Matthew 6:21-23 says, “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness!” These people had shifted their treasure from Christ to other things. This happened as a result of a change of focus. A single eye is one centered on Christ. Often, we shift our focus elsewhere. Sometimes this is one particular thing that captivates our hearts and minds. It becomes our treasure. Other times, it is made up of a plethora of things. All these “small things” add up and before we know it, our treasure is all over the place. No longer is God holding the position that He should in our hearts. As a result, we become the ones who draw near with our mouths and honour with our lips, but have hearts removed from Him.
Let us examine our hearts this week. Is He our treasure? Is our vision single or have we become distracted? Has that distraction led to a disconnect with our Savior? Are we presently sincere in the faith?