“And they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness” (Ezekiel 33:31).
TEXT — Ezekiel 33:21-33
Message
Window shopping is looking at articles displayed in shop windows without the intention of buying anything. People window-shop for various reasons. It may provide some gratification in the form of mental, aesthetic, and psychological pleasure. However, it often amounts to wasting precious time and facing frustration from unmet needs.
There is a religious version of window shopping. Such was the case of some exiled hypocritical Jews who dutifully came to Prophet Ezekiel to listen to him while in Babylon. They could easily be mistaken for committed members of the congregation. However, the Lord identified them and informed the prophet that, “…they come unto thee as the people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they will not do them: for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their covetousness.” They said scornful things about the prophet behind his back, but put on “a form of godliness” before him.
The moral and spiritual condition of the Jews who survived the captivity and were left in the ruins of Jerusalem was not better. Despite God’s humbling providence, Ezekiel was also shown how proud, haughty, selfish, and possessive they had become. The attitude of the hypocritical Jewish exiles and the remnants reflect the extent of man’s depravity. The unpleasant situation they were going through, which resulted from their rebellion against God, should have driven them to the Lord and allowed them to yield a “peaceable fruit of righteousness.” Instead, they became more presumptuous and self-conceited.
Religious pretence is a most damning practice. It is an attempt to relegate God. In the pretender’s mind, people’s perceptions and opinions are rated higher than God’s position. But God is not mocked, considering that “in him, we live, and move, and have our being.” He is in control of everything about us. The hypocrite misleads others but does far more harm to himself. He deceives himself, lives with a sense of insecurity, shuts the door of repentance and salvation against himself, and, like the window-shopper, he is haunted by unmet aspirations while facing eternal damnation. By all means, avoid all forms of pretence.
Thought for the day
Hypocrisy is the most foolish and perilous of all pretences.
Listed among “500 most powerful people on the planet” by the Foreign Policy magazine in 2013, Pastor (Dr.) William F. Kumuyi is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Christian Life Ministry (DCLM) headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. DCLM started in 1973 as a 15-member Bible study group right in Kumuyi’s apartment at University of Lagos where he was a lecturer. His revolutionary Bible teaching on personal holiness and commitment to evangelism soon gained so much traction and resulted in a widespread revival.
1 comment
O Lord, thank you for your word in today’s devotional message. Please, help me not to be a hypocritical Christian, and a religious window shopper in Jesus name, Amen.
O Lord, thank you for your word in today’s devotional message. Please, help me not to be a hypocritical Christian, and a religious window shopper in Jesus name, Amen.