Isaiah 29:13-14 New International Version (NIV) 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 based on merely human rules they have been taught . . “
I love the book of Isaiah! Written 8 centuries before Jesus by perhaps three different authors, this passage came from Isaiah ben Amoz. In Christianity he is regarded as the first of the major prophets. I find prophecy a fascinating study insofar as everything Isaiah foretold about Jesus came to realization with 100% accuracy. His batting average certainly proves that we should take to heart what he wrote so many years ago.
Isaiah’s words proved so important that Jesus even quoted him in a teaching recorded in Mark 7:7. Of course, be mindful that Jesus repeated an 800 year old quotation that Isaiah had received from Him!
Reflect on this question: how many churches teach their own rules in addition to what is contained within the Bible? I suggest that it’s just about all of them. Don’t kid yourself in thinking that I’m promoting any particular church as being better. Some congregations that claim the greatest adherence to the Bible are oftentimes the worse offenders with their own legalism. Man-made rules mean nothing!
At the end of the day, the bottom line is how we relate to Jesus Christ. It isn’t about a particular church, worship style or human rules. It’s all about the person of Jesus Christ, what we believe about Him, and how we serve Him.