Walking With Christ

Isaiah 29:13-14 (13)And the Lord said: Because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men, (14)therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.(ESV)

The end of verse 13 says, “their fear of me is a commandment taught by men”. This part of this verse should be troubling to most people. As parents we may tell our children not to touch the hot stove. There are always two types of children. The will ask why. They will try to understand the reason for themselves. The others? Perhaps a story will better illustrate.

A large family is getting together for Thanksgiving. The mother is watching her daughter work. She watches the daughter cut off both ends of the ham before putting it in the over.

Mother: Hey, you cut off both ends of the ham, too?
Daughter: Oh yeah, I always saw you doing that, so I do it too. Why did you do it?
Mother: I’m not sure. I always watched my mom do it. Hey mom, why did you cut off both ends of the ham before you put it in the oven?
Grandmother: Well, I don’t know why you fools are doing it, but I did it because the stove was too small.

We often sell our blessings short because we fail to understand them.