Honor Me

“This people honors me with their lips but their hearts are far from me...” Mark 7:7

Only God can give this judgment for only God can see our hearts. Many of us go to church and prayer meetings on Sundays, honoring Jesus with our lips, perhaps raising our hands, but what do we do other days of the week? An evangelist said we need to do some soul searching. We go to our meetings in search of a spiritual high, and we look for another church if we do not find that high in ours. Or others look for a priest who gives a short homily so the mass doesn’t drag on too long for their comfort. 

In our parish we used to have a priest who would pointedly time his sermons. Afterwards he would point to his watch and say something like, “20 minutes only.” I talked to him saying, “Father, it’s not the length of time. If what you teach has substance, your parishioners can listen to you for a very long time!” 

Feelings should follow belief, not create belief. Our belief should come from a solid foundation grounded on the Word of God. Our hearts will be won for the side of God only if we pray and study the Bible. Otherwise we will be easily swayed by emergent churches with a great worship band and a charismatic pastor. Our lips will sing, we will praise and sing loudly. Let us make sure that we do not live in a doctrinal vacuum but know what we truly believe in. Our God is an awesome God and He should be worshiped in Spirit and truth.