MARK 7:5-8

The Pharisees and the scribes asked Him, ``Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?" And He said to them, ``Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: `THIS PEOPLE HONOURS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. `BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.' ``Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men."

TO PONDER:

False Advertising. We've all seen it. Prices marked up from normal retail and then discounted to the normal price! We've seen companies falsely claim that their product has certain health benefits that it does not. Or we have seen a product advertised and you go to the shop and they don't have it...but something similar at a greater price! They are not delivering what they advertise.

But I wonder, have we ever considered that as Christians we might be guilty of false advertising? Do we advertise that we are Christian and yet deliver something quite different? Has our false advertising rendered our testimony unbelievable? For example, we say with our lips that we trust God to give us this day our daily bread but we spend our time thinking about how we can win the lotto! Or the value of Christian service we advertise, we don't deliver on. Jesus has some hard words to say about that sort of false advertising. He wants what comes out of our mouth and the extension of our lives to reflect the new heart that he has given us through his death and resurrection. So today maybe think about what you are advertising, and whether what you say is what you deliver!

PRAYER:

Lord God, may may life be a true advertisement of the life I have in you. Amen.

The DBP and DBP API are owned by Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing. The Bible Content housed in the DBP is owned by Hosanna/Faith Comes By Hearing and its Licensor-Partners.