Let Justice Roll Down

One of my best friends gave me some verses last night that ripped into me... Isaiah 1:11-17.

"What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices? says the Lord; I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, or of lambs, or of goats. When you come to appear before me, who has required of you this trampling of my courts? Bring no more vain offerings; incense is an abomination to me. New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations- I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates; they have become a burden to me; I am wear of bearing them. When you spread out your hands, I will hide my eyes from you; even though you make many prayers, I will not listen; your hands are full of blood. Wash yourseslves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause."

I'm not sure what I'll be doing later in life. One thing I know I will not do: get comfortable in a half-hearted, tepid walk labeled "Christianity", where I do just enough to get by or to appease my conscience. The church needs more than tradition and ceremony, more than a shallow "hey, how are you?". The world needs more than "here's a tract and some spare change." Not that those things are wrong, but if the heart behind it is not sincere, if it's not done out of love, then it's trash, less than nothing, like Paul says in 1 Corinthians.

Another passage I love: Micah 6:6-8.

"With what shall I come before the LORD,
and bow myself before God on high?
Shall I come before him with burnt offerings,
with calves a year old?
Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams,
with ten thousands of rivers of oil?
Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression,
the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?"
He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the LORD require of you
but to do justice, and to love kindness,
and to walk humbly with your God?

In every action and thought and word, my heart has got to have pure motives. I wanna be genuine. What's worse than turning your back on someone who needs help? I'd venture to say, helping them in pretense or just to look good in front of other people. Pour yourself out for others in sincerity, or don't pour yourself out at all.

People see what we do; God sees why we do it.