Don't miss the point...

I went to a praise night on Saturday at a local church. The music and atmosphere were really awesome, and I just felt the presence of God in a strong way. The speaker was really good, it he challenged me to a new way of thinking. Well, it probably isn't new, but his message really convicted in a deep, in such a way that it made me think about my walk and how I can really be more of a true follower of Christ.

He preached on this little passage from two passages, Matthew 15, and Isaiah 29:

Matthew 15:1-20
Then some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus from Jerusalem and asked,
"Why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don't wash their hands before they eat!" Jesus replied, "And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition? For God said, 'Honor your father and mother' and 'Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.' But you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted to God,' he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition. You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: " 'These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men."
Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' "
Then the disciples came to him and asked, "Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this?"
He replied, "Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be pulled up by the roots. Leave them; they are blind guides.[e] If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit."
Peter said, "Explain the parable to us."
"Are you still so dull?" Jesus asked them. "Don't you see that whatever enters the mouth goes into the stomach and then out of the body? But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these make a man 'unclean.' For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'; but eating with unwashed hands does not make him 'unclean.' "

Isaiah 29:13
The Lord says:"These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.

The Lord totally rebuked these people for missing the point. They did things for the wrong reasons, did religious activities with the wrong attitudes, forgot God's intentions and priorites, and their hearts were far from Him. As a result, their sacrifices were not acceptable to Him. I just feel challenge to really examine my heart to make sure that I really have God's heart in my heart, and that He really does have all of me. Because if I am that close to Him, I will know what He cares about, His priorities and how He feels towards everything. I have to ask myself some questions: why do I go to church? or why do I serve God? or Do I really love people with His love? or Is His heart beating in mine?

-Amen-