December 2, 2024 Daily Dose of Discernment

Wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight; stop doing wrong. Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:16-17)

God, through Isaiah, confronts the hypocrisy of being outwardly religious but neglecting what matters more - justice, kindness, and faithfulness. That's why Jesus emphasizes what His Father said - “I desire compassion, not sacrifice.” The people in question observe ceremonial requirements, offer sacrifices, celebrate feasts, and say prayers, yet turn a blind eye to the oppressed.

Advent is a good time to consider our ways. There is nothing wrong with observing religious practices. But let us beware of having a form of godliness and denying its power, of following the letter of the Law and not walking in its spirit. Because pure and undefiled religion is ministering to those most in need - the poor, the widow, the orphan, the least, the lost, and the lonely. Let us remember as well what Jesus said, that the good we do for them, we do to Him.