March 9, 2026 Devo

March 9th, 2026

Powerful Words from the Prophets
And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote.” – Isaiah 29:13 (NLT)
“Don’t Get the Cart Before the Horse”

When I was growing up, if you had asked me, “What does it mean to be a ‘Christian,’ I would have given you all the “dos”: A Christian is someone who goes to church on Sunday morning, Sunday night, and Wednesday night. A Christian is someone who reads their Bible. A Christian is someone who says their prayers.
Then, I would have given you all of the “don’ts”: A Christian is someone who doesn’t cuss. A Christian is someone who doesn’t go to movies. A Christian is someone who doesn’t play cards. A Christian is someone who doesn’t smoke, drink, or take drugs (those were all thrown in the same category). A Christian is someone who doesn’t date anyone other than other Christians.
What I WOULDN’T have told you is that a Christian is someone who loves God with all their heart and someone who loves others as much as they love themselves. Which is kind of crazy when you think about it, because Jesus said that loving God and loving others was basically the foundation of our faith. Our faithfulness in following His commands and guidelines for living is to flow out of our love relationship with Him. If not, we’re simply following rules to feel good about ourselves without regard for what pleases Him.
That’s exactly what was going on for Israel. The words the Lord spoke through the prophet are absolutely HAUNTING: “They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.” The religious leaders took the commandments of God, added their own ideas to them, and then told the people, “THIS is what you have to do to please God!” They turned God into a Rule Maker instead of a Loving Father. When all along God knew that if they simply loved Him for who He was and what He had done for them, they would follow His commands as a PRIVILEGE, not a burden.
That’s a good lesson for us. Let’s not get the cart before the horse. Yes, God has guidelines He wants us to live by. Yes, following His commands is an important expression of our faith in Him. But what God wants, more than anything else, is our HEARTS. Because if we love Him, we’ll want to please Him and follow Him. If we don’t love Him, no amount of rule following will ever be enough. It’ll just be a bunch of dos and don’ts. That’s God’s Word for you today.