“And the king stood by a pillar, and made a
covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments
and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to
perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the
people stood to the covenant.” – 2 Kings 23:3
The harsh reality of humanity is that we often
times say more than we do. We make
promises, plans, resolutions, but more often than not little takes place. This is because words are easier than
action. This reality extends to our
spiritual life as well, and the scripture plainly shows us that God does not
want “lip service” or “false worship;” he wants sincerity and truth. He always has and he always will.
The scripture likens the relationship between
mankind and Jesus to that of a good holy marriage. Observe those gone on before, the ones who
had a good marriage, it consisted of two God loving people who were devoted to
God first and each other second. Those
marriages, did they not have: communication, love, commitment, sacrifice,
devotion, and many other wonderful qualities?
It did, and they twain as one “glorified the Father.” Our relationship with Jesus Christ is the same
way, we once twain become one for the glory of the Father.
Typically, before you get married there is
usually a wedding. If you lived in this
country long, odds are good you have been to one. There’s a bride, a groom, groomsmen, fancy
dresses, nice flowers, good food, etc.
The dress and glamorization of the occasion is typically only rivaled by
that of the bride. Now, granted, not all
weddings are like this, however some (celebrity weddings most notable) are more
about the occasion than the vow itself.
The events surrounding the event are so extravagant it makes one stop
and say “why are we here?” Just as a
good marriage shows us how our relationship with Jesus ought to be; so a
glamorized wedding reminds us of the lip service that we perhaps once or are
presently feeding to God. Remember, a
wedding is an occasion where friends and family gather to celebrate the union
between a man and women; before God. At
some point the bride and groom will make a vow to one another to be faithful,
to serve, to have and hold through sickness and health poverty and wealth; but
the sad reality is that oftentimes marriages are annulled before the debt
incurred from the wedding is paid off.
If you do not enter into a marriage totally committed to God first and
your spouse second than you are doing both a disservice. You can dress it up, and doll it up, and
glamorize the glamorization. The pope
can perform the ceremony while the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir sings the
hymns. The “who’s-who” of the known
world can be in attendance, but if you don’t wholly commit to one another in
your heart it’s all in vain. Sure, the
service was beautiful, the bride was beautiful, everything looked and sounded
wonderful; but what of the condition of the covenant?
The same question looms in front every sinner
that comes to God and every saved soul that is currently serving God. What of the condition of the covenant? Is it genuine? Is it continuous? Are you still wholly devoted and dedicated to
God and him alone? In my opinion the Pharisees
are the best example of “lip service” we could ever have. They looked the part, acted the part, their
life was outward spiritual extravagance; but what of the covenant? They were not committed to God in their
heart. They did not love Him or His Son. The wedding ceremony was worthy of the
tabloids, but the marriage was worthless.
Jesus doesn’t want a beautiful wedding ceremony; he desires a beautiful
marriage. He wants a relationship with
us, one filled with love, devotion, commitment, sacrifice, communication; one
that glorifies God the Father. He
doesn’t want ceremony, he wants sacrifice; he wants love instead of lust,
devotion over extravagance, commitment above excitement. This begins and abides within the covenant,
the promise to love God with your all every day; till death do us unite.
