“Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out!” There comes a time when we feel fed up with meetings and can’t bear one more. What surprises me is that the Lord can feel the same way! This quote, so commonly the unspoken but lived out sentiment of Christians, is actually the Lord speaking – Isaiah 1:13 Message.
It seems the only measure of passion for Christ is meeting attendance, yet there seems little grace from God for what is often an end in itself. Too often they are driven by a hope that through some form of spirituality we can stir our feelings and experience the presence of God. If at heart we act in order to experience a reaction, then where is our love for God?
The antidote offered in Isaiah 1:13-17 is not more religious observance, but integrity. “… I’ll not be listening. And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. Go home and wash up … say no to wrong. Learn to do good. Work for justice. Help the down-and-out.” So maybe I need to be asking God how I can show His love in my context? After all, ‘If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels but have not love I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.’ (1 Corinthians 13:1)