Pretending to Draw Near – Isa 29
“Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, And with their lips do honour me, But have removed their heart far from me, And their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:”
Isaiah 29:13
As the city of Jerusalem watched the northern kingdom fall, God told them that they too would experience a time of seige and attack. They would ultimately fall, but this judgment would come on them because of their sin.
The sin that is addressed is that of drawing near to God with their mouths but not their hearts. It was all superficial and external; there was no real love for the Lord.
Though they were outwarding pretending to worship God, in the dark they were hiding things from God, thinking they were getting away with it and no one saw.
But God saw. And God sees our sin. He knew what they did and knows what we do. So, we should not try to hide our sin with outward demonstrations of righteousness.
How are we playing games and pretending? May we turn to the Lord with our whole heart and not just our words.