Tuesday, February 17, 2015

The Real Thing

“‘I hate, I despise your religious feasts; I cannot stand your assemblies.  Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them. 
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them.   Away with the noise of your songs! 
  I will not listen to the music of your harps.   But let justice roll on like a river, 
 righteousness like a never-failing stream!  Did you bring me sacrifices and offerings forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?  You have lifted up the shrine of your king, the pedestal of your idols, the star of your god —which you made for yourselves.  Therefore I will send you into exile beyond Damascus,’ 
says the LORD, whose name is God Almighty.” (Amos 5:21-27 NIV)

I admit I wasn’t expecting something great.  It was a small, local diner where the old-timers spend their mornings talking about the weather, politics, and the old days.   The waitress/owner asked my friend and I if we wanted coffee.  Of course, drinking coffee is one of my favorite pastimes.  I just know, however, not to expect too much of the coffee in these places.  Usually it is weak, but I can normally tolerate it.  

So the waitress came with our coffee and took our order.  I put my usual one-sugar/one cream into the cup and took a sip.  It had a funny, odd taste.  I added some more cream and sugar, hoping that would help.  It did, barely.  I am usually a three-four-refill type of guy, but on this morning, I took only one refill and that was just to be polite.  As we left the restaurant, my cup sat nearly full.  The coffee was basically undrinkable. 

I hate that. You are excitedly looking forward to something, but then what you experience falls so far short of your expectations.  And what’s worse is when the people serving up the experience don’t seem to notice or care about the poor quality of their product.  

I think God feels the same way when it comes to religious activity.  It often has such promise.  People gathering to worship Him in spirit and in truth.  People loving one another and meeting needs.  People desiring to reflect His glory and to honor Him.  But then reality often sets in.  People instead gather for themselves, to meet their own needs. The worship is mere ritual and is empty of any power.  There is no humility or repentance.  Like that bad cup of coffee, the Lord finds it impossible to consume.  

Time and time again throughout the Scriptures, we find God desiring true and authentic worship.  He is not satisfied, and indeed hates, religious rituals that are empty of any real devotion to Him.  They are an affront to Him because they look like something genuine, but are in reality fake.  He does not want our rituals, our religious activities, as if somehow they proved how much we love Him.  No, He wants us—our hearts and our lives.  

Today, recognize the Lord wants out of you the real thing.  Like I want real coffee to drink, He wants real worship.  Don’t be satisfied with giving Him something far less.  He knows the difference.

© Jim Musser 2015

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