daily java

Daily Java:

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong, learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)

Ritual is a large part of life. We do things that we have done and many times do not even recognize it as ritual.

Check it out sometime. You bathe in basically the same order every day. You shave in the same order: under the left sideburn, down the cheek, under the goatee, down the right cheek and under the right sideburn. Many times you even eat your food in the same way. Before you go to sleep at night, there are things you do: check the doors, maybe the windows, turn out the lights, turn down the thermostat.

Life is full of ritual. And there is nothing wrong with that.

In life, that is.

But not in our relationship to God.

There are some rituals that are not bad, of course. I pray basically the same way each day, especially in the order of prayer. I write in the morning, both devos for Facebook and here in this blog. On Sundays and Wednesdays we go to church, Monday nights are prayer nights. Those are all rituals in a way.

But when our rituals take over our spiritual life, then they become ugly.

We can go to the church, sing the latest in praise songs well, pray loudly, do all the stuff we usually do – but unless the love and compassion of God reaches our hearts, all else is worthless.

Isaiah told this to a group of people who considered themselves holy before God. They did a lot of worshiping, after all. A lot of sacrifices, a lot of stuff.

But they had lost the point of the stuff and the stuff they did replaced the God they were supposed to do the stuff for.

In the verses before, God tells them that he is sick of their constant worship services. In his eyes, they are empty, devoid of any real devotion.

"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. When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts? Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations — I cannot bear your evil assemblies. Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them. 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." (Isaiah 1:11-15)

They were so full of their own response to what they wanted God to want, they forgot the point of it all. God said, clean yourself up. You are dirty from your constant sin. Don’t just sing my praises, live them.  Do stuff to show that you are my people and that my love is living in you.

Coming to church is worthless if we do not live our faith. And part of living our faith is helping  those who need the help.

Otherwise we waste our time. And God gets sick of us.