Religious tradition - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

This people honours me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. And in vain they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.
Mark 7:6.7.

Religious tradition
When Jesus Christ lived here on earth there were countless religious persons in Israel. They held on to their Jewish traditions tenuously. But with most of them living faith in God was lacking. The Son of God, who could see into their hearts, unmasked their sanctimonious attitude, making it clear to them how empty and useless their external religious appearance was. Today, too, there are many who profess to be Christians, but in fact are only outwardly so. They are often religiously active indeed, but do not have a relationship with Christ by faith. The words of today's verse of Scripture that the Lord spoke to those religious persons are still equally applicable.

Religion without a relationship of faith in God makes people hypocrites. Through their actions they purport to testify their piety before men and claim to honour God through their words. In reality, however, they are far from Him.

Such religiosity is vain. It may afford its adherents a good reputation in the world; in God's eyes, however, it is worthless. It will not undo a single sin, nor bring a sinner into an orderly relationship with God.

A religion of this kind puts man's tradition in the place of the Word of God. Instead of the Bible being the guideline for our life, men's commandments determine their so-called religious behaviour

Today's reading: Hosea 7:1-16 · James 3:13-18