King James Bible : Matthew 15:8
This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

Our worship of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion.Only in the LORD our God will Israel ever find salvation : Jeremiah 3:23.

Is honouring God with the lips vain worship?

The ancient Israelites rubbed up against the Canaanites and their fertility religion. Part of this religion involved sexual rites on mountains and hilltops, often under sacred trees. Many of the Israelites, including national leaders, were drawn into Canaanite worship.

Honouring God with the lips is vain worship. Mark 7:6 also records this prophecy of Isaiah, which Jesus quoted. From the words of Jesus, we see that He rebuked those who claimed to be worshipping God but not from the hearts. Their hearts were far away from God but they honoured Him only with their mouths.

Jeremiah 3 features God’s rebuke of his faithless people, but also his invitation to return to him. “My wayward children,” says the LORD, “come back to me, and I will heal your wayward hearts” (3:22). This chapter also foresees the time when the people will return to the Lord in repentance. In that day, they will confess, “Our worship of idols on the hills and our religious orgies on the mountains are a delusion. Only in the LORD our God will Israel ever find salvation” (3:23). The Hebrew word translated here as “delusion” can mean “lie” or “deception” (sheqer). It points to the fact that the lewd worship of the Canaanite deities is not only wrong and contrary to God’s instruction, but also based on a falsehood. The gods who are “worshiped” on the mountains through sexual immorality are not really gods. They are not able to make the land and people fertile because they are not real.

Our worship is vain anytime we honor God with our lips, but we are more concerned with keeping the religious customs and traditions of our time than we are the actual commandments of God. It’s interesting how many religious customs and traditions we have: What time we meet for worship on Sabbath day.

Are You worshiping God in vain?

Today we are not tempted to worship Canaanite gods on the mountains. But we can still be drawn into false worship. Our culture, for example, can lure us into believing that God exists primarily to meet our needs. Religion becomes a matter of self-help and self-improvement, rather than a self-surrendering relationship with the King of kings and Lord of lords. Or we might be led to believe that real worship is primarily a matter of emotions, rather than an investment of our whole selves as we love the Lord with heart, soul, mind, and strength. Or we might be tempted to think that our relationship with God can be based on our good works and intentions, rather than upon God’s grace in Jesus Christ.

When our hearts are centered on things like those listed like the flesh, then our hearts are far from God and we worship him in vain. As we said before, there are those who love and follow their own tradition rather than the word of God. When they do this, their worship and service is vain.

Are they only paying lip service to God?

Christian faith is a trustful relationship with the God who seeks to be worshiped in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). Thus we are not free to make up God on our own terms, to create “God” in our own image, if we want to know the one, true God. Rather, we seek to know God as he really is by receiving his revelation in history, in his people, in Scripture, and, above all, in Jesus Christ. When our relationship with God is founded on God’s revelation, when it is centered in Jesus Christ, then our worship will never be a delusion

They are only paying lip service to Him, no heart service. God is looking at the heart. Lip service! As I said, Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah to answer the Scribes and the Pharisees. Faith is a heart thing. It’s never the head, it’s never the stomach. It’s not even the hands and feet. The lips and the mouths are involved in worship, just not the first thing. The hands and the feet are involved in worship, just not the first thing. Doctrine must be taught but it must be the Word of God and not the commandments of men, the traditions of men or the philosophies of men.

To my readers:

First of all, thank you! It is a great joy to me to know you read the thoughts and lessons God has given me in His word.

To honor someone means to respect and esteem them. The degree of honor we bestow on someone varies greatly depending on their position and achievements. For instance, the honor bestowed on a child for making honor roll is quite different from the honor bestowed on a commander for winning a war. We honor people for a variety of reasons, including their position, power, accomplishments, integrity, intellect, etc. We demonstrate honor through the attitudes, affections, and actions we direct toward the person being honored.

The attitude we have toward those we honor includes regard, respect, and reverence. The affections we experience toward those we honor include admiration, adoration, or even awe. The actions we take toward those who we honor include praise, submission, and obedience. For instance, children honor their parents through their submission and obedience.

So, what does it mean to honor God? To honor God means to give Him the regard, respect, reverence, admiration, adoration, awe, praise, submission, and obedience which are due to Him. To honor God means to worship Him in all our attitudes, affections, and actions. The essence of what it means to honor God is revealed to us in what Jesus called the first and greatest commandment: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment" (Matthew 22:37–38). Note that honoring God cannot be limited to the external performances of rituals or ceremonies. Jesus commands us to honor God with both our lips and our hearts. Hypocrites honor God with the words of their mouths but their hearts are far removed from Him (Matthew 15:8–9).

God is deserving of the highest honor ( the complete surrender of our entire lives to His glory and loving service, Romans 12:1) because of both who He is and what He has done. He is our creator, sustainer, and redeemer. Our very life and breath comes from God. It is in Him that we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). All that we have, we have received from Him. All things have been made by Him and for Him.

We can only honor God if we live, not for our own glory, but for His glory. He is worthy of all honor. Take for instance, God's position (Psalm 47:7), power (Exodus 15:6), accomplishments (Revelation 4:11), integrity (Isaiah 6:3), and intellect (Romans 11:33). No matter which category we choose, God is to be honored above all. The honor owed to God is perfect and infinite since He is perfectly and infinitely honorable (1 Peter 1:16; Revelation 4:8). For us to present ourselves as living sacrifices to the honor of God is no more than duty dictates (Luke 17:10).

Yet, Scripture informs us that all of mankind has failed to honor God as we should (Romans 1:21). Our sins are not only violations of God's laws, but assaults of His honor (Psalm 51:4). We demonstrate dishonor to God through our disobedience. Because of our disobedience, we live under the impending doom of death and destruction (Ephesians 2:1–3; Romans 3:23; 6:23; Matthew 25:41). But God, because of His great love for us, sent His Holy Son, Jesus Christ, who honored God through His perfect love, humility, and obedience, and died for our dishonorable sin, guilt, and shame (Ephesians 2:4–10).

Through Christ's life, death, and resurrection God has made the way for us to be reconciled to Himself (John 14:6; Romans 5:10). The Father tells us that we cannot honor Him unless we honor His Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:22–23). Therefore, it is impossible for us to honor God unless and until we receive Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. It is only through faith in Jesus Christ that God removes the shame and dishonor which our sins deserve and credits us with the honor and holiness of Christ's righteous life. In addition, God gives us His Holy Spirit to indwell and empower us to live for God's glory and honor (John 14:16; 1 Corinthians 12:11; 2 Corinthians 3:18; Galatians 5:22–23). Spending eternity glorifying and honoring God for all that He is and has done for us through Jesus Christ will be much more than our duty (Revelation 5:12); it will be our delight (Psalm 16:11).

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION: Which cultural delusions tempt you as you seek to worship God? What helps you to worship God in truth?

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