Covenant Talk
Title: Religion Or Relationship? Part 1
by Michael Isaacks
The People Honor Me With Their Lips
" This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with
their lips; but their heart is far from me. "
( Matthew 15:8 )
What a sad declaration for a people this is. But what is worse, there are
those in the body of Christ of which this is true. Oh, they go to church
on Sunday morning. Some of them may carry a pocket Bible, others may listen
to Christian music. But how often do they crack open that pocket Bible?
How often do they pray? You might hear all kinds of " Praise the Lord! Thank
You, Jesus! " when you're around them, but what do you suppose you would
hear if you were to slip up on them unannounced as they were in a conversation
with a lost person? Would you still hear " Praise the Lord! Thank You, Jesus!
" or would you hear dirty jokes, profanity and/or filthy conversation coming
out of their mouth? Would you hear them cursing God and/or taking His Holy
Name in vain? I have met " Christians " like that. G.D. is one of their
favorite words. Others might not say G.D., but you'll hear them say every
other curse word in the book.
Or maybe they don't curse, but how do they treat others around them? Do
they pretend that they are better ( or " holier " ) than those around them?
Do they look down their nose in judgement at everyone around them. Is their
life's ambition to expose hidden sin in people's lives, or make some up
if they can't find any, all in the name of " fruit inspection "? These kind
of people do NOT have a relationship with Jesus Christ, they have RELIGION!
If you love someone ( such as your spouse ), you will not hurt their feelings.Yet
many people who claim that they love Jesus Christ do it everyday. Jesus
Himself said; " Why do you call me Lord and not do the things I say? " (
Luke 6:46 also check out verse 45! )
James said in verse 3:10 of his book; " Out of the same mouth proceedeth
blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. " Paul
told the Colossians in verse 3:8 to " put all filthy communication out of
your mouth. " I could go on on this subject for days but I'll quit for now.
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