Psalm 50:16

Psalm 50:16

Do we mean what we say?

The Jews have always loved God’s laws – even more than they have loved God! The Torah still drives the thinking and morals of many Jewish people to this very day. In addition, they have added the written and spoken rules of the rabbis, the Talmud and the Mishnah, and Orthodox Jewish men study the documents tirelessly, in the pursuit of truth. The trouble is, if this is not accompanied by a genuine loving relationship with the Lord and His Son, Jesus Christ, it has little meaning. Once again, it is just religion. 

Wickedness is to defy God, to deliberately disobey His commands, to live sinfully and in open rebellion against righteousness, to follow the ways of the Prince of this world, to pursue the deeds of darkness. If our heart is not right, how dare we recite God’s laws and the liturgy of His Covenants? How dare we pretend to be religious, saying all the right things but having no intention of doing them? I shudder when I think of the Services I have attended, over the years, where people have mumbled their way through prayers and made promises that they have no intention of keeping. Christenings, Communions, Weddings, even funerals, Sunday Services where prayers are said and promises recited, but with no meaning and no heart-intention of obedience. Have we done this too? Of course we have, for we are all hypocrites just like the rest. Our only redemption is to be found in the Redeemer who forgives wickedness, restores rights and upholds the terms of His Covenants. He knows our hearts, on the one hand that is frightening, for He knows sees through our duplicity, on the other hand the ones who admit to their sin and humbly seek His face are forgiven and accepted by Him. For that, we should be forever grateful.

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