CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE DAILY DEVOTIONAL ON YOUTUBE
1 Corinthians 10:18-22
The Apostle Paul has previously taught us about the Israelites and their battle with idolatry. He now goes a step further and calls the Corinthians out on pretending that they can participate in both pagan religious ceremonies and Christianity. He states in 1 Corinthians 10:21 (NKJV), “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” Jesus taught the woman at the well in John 4:23-24, “But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” Paul was trying to teach the Corinthians that true worship is not superficial (that is to say only visible on the outside/surface), but is from the heart in the true spirit of worship – it is genuine.
This is a promise that true worship comes from the heart.
We cannot live in a false pretense of worship to Almighty God. God is Spirit, and He is seeking spiritual people to worship Him (John 4:23-24). The Bible teaches us in 1 Samuel 16:7b, “For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” Jesus teaches the Pharisees in Luke 16:15 (ESV), “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” Psalm 44:20-21 (HCSB) declares, “If we had forgotten the name of our God and spread out our hands to a foreign god, wouldn’t God have found this out, since He knows the secrets of the heart?” And the Apostle Paul teaches us in Romans 8:27 (NIV), “And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.”
God knows our true inner feelings; He knows our true intentions in our relationships with Him. We cannot lie to God. We cannot trick God into believing what we want Him to so we can live in a way that we would refer to as “the best of both worlds.” There is no such thing and we are only lying to ourselves – or better yet, the devil is lying to us to get us to believe such things. Ladies and gentlemen, God knows our hearts better than we do; He wants us to love Him and worship Him because He first loved us. He wants our hearts…truly.
Dear LORD,
Please help us to realize and understand that we cannot worship You and live in the ways of this world at the same time. We must make a choice to follow You and be dedicated to You in our hearts and in the true spirit of worship. You are Love, and in Your true essence of Yourself, You will not force us to love You back, but yet died on the cross with Your arms open to welcome all who will come to You. Thank You Jesus! In Jesus name I pray, amen.