In Spirit and In Truth

DEVOTION

ISAIAH

IN SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH

Isa 1:10-20

10 Hear the word of the LORD, you rulers of Sodom; listen to the law of our God, you people of Gomorrah! 11 "The multitude of your sacrifices — what are they to me?" says the LORD."I have more than enough of burnt offerings, of rams and the fat of fattened animals; I have no pleasure in the blood of bulls and lambs and goats. 12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? 13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your evil assemblies. 14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood; 16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, 17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

18 "Come now, let us reason together, "says the LORD." Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. 19 If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land; 20 but if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword." For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.

NIV

This is all about living in a created religious environment rather than is simply living trusting in God. The people of Israel had done more than the Lord had required concerning sacrifices and festivals, they had gone off the deep end, so to speak. They had developed somewhat of a pagan approach to religious practices. At the same time they were steeped in sin, this word uses incest, and compares their lifestyle to Sodom and Gomorrah. All the fake religion, it is meaningless to God. He does not want or need all their sacrifices while they live in this unruly, unholy manner. The incest may not be as we think of the word, but in a spiritual sense. It could be in the sexual context, which is not far-fetched for in the laws given to Moses the Lord deals with that behavior. Yet when we think of adultery, we think of how we commit adultery with the world. Because we are the bride of Christ, when we engage in the affairs of the world’s ideologies, we commit adultery against God. So this incest can also be in that same sense. They were so involved, so engaged in their own form of religion, they were committing religion, the new moon, their appointed feasts, their evil assemblies with themselves and really had nothing to do with true worship of the Lord. It reminds us if how we have developed so many traditions instead of the truth. We appear to applaud the truth, but we surely like our traditions much better. If our church service is not exactly like we have always had our service, all hell breaks loose. We have had church splits over the dumbest matters of tradition with no attention paid to the truth. Is God pleased with our stick in the mud type of wordship? Although the system of sacrifices ended with Jesus being the true and only sacrifice needed for the forgiveness of our sin, we still get into the mode of thinking we have to bring some form of sacrifice. It has become our tithe and offerings that we think of as our sacrifice to God. It is almost if we don’t give to the church, for we are no really giving to God, he has no need of money, then we are not a good Christian and he will not hear our prayers. But what does God require from us as far as a sacrifice is concerned. Yes, we are to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. This is living for God, not living with God. This is not having God be a part of our lives, it is God being our lives. We cannot simply be religious people, doing religious things, doing church, doing religion. We need to cleanse ourselves of the traditions of religion like the pagans act. Freedom in Christ means we can worship God in Spirit and in Truth. Are we excited to be able to worship God, or has it become a matter of fact, traditional behavior? It is not about always being at every church function, every festival, every new moon, so to speak. It is about worshipping him in Spirit and in Truth. “Come, let us reason together”. That is what God wants to do with us. Let us think about what Spirit and Truth mean. Although we have sin, although we continue to sin, God made our sin white as snow on that cross. Although our sin is scarlet or crimson, the sacrifice Jesus made for us, turns our sin to white as snow, as white as wool. We must be willing and obedient. But how can we obey when we still commit certain sins? Sure, it is not that we murder, steal, cheat, or commit adultery, in the world’s sense. But how about gossip, or harboring ill feelings, not forgiving someone who supposedly offended us? In the first place the only reason we feel offended is because we think more highly of ourselves then we should and that is sin too. Any ill feelings, bitterness, unforgiveness, envy, jealousy, pride, are all matters of the heart and are not right before God. This is why we need Jesus. Yet we have to make every effort to live in peace with all men. That means none of those traditional ill feelings. God desires to give us the best of the land, the best of everything if we but only live with him, worship him, love him with all, not part, all our heart, our mind, our spirit and our strength. Let us shed those traditional boundaries and worship the Lord our God in Spirit and in Truth.