We read in the Bible of the form and power of godliness. When we look at the church, we see more of the form than the power. So many people seem to merely be playing religion. They attend services, go through the form of worship and are often strongly devoted to their creed and attached to the organization of which they are members. But, when you look for the power of godliness in their lives and the power to render acceptable service to God—you do not find it. This make-believe religion may ease the conscience for a time. But it will not bring us into a position where we can render acceptable service to God and where our own souls will be satisfied.
There are many people who go through the forms of religion and try to serve the Lord, but never know if their service is acceptable or not.
A lady who professed to be a Christian had prayed often. Speaking to me on the subject of prayer, she said, “I cannot say that God has ever answered my prayers.” Think of it – twenty years of praying and never a prayer answered. Still, there are many who would have the same confession. Their religion has so little of reality in it, that it seems almost nothing to them.
A certain religious professor went to work with a gang of men upon a public contract. He worked with them several weeks and then came home. A friend asked him, “How did you get along working with that gang of wicked men up there? What did they have to say about your religion?” The professor replied, “oh, they didn’t find out anything about it. I didn’t tell them.”
It is just that way with many people. You would never find out anything about their religion—if they did not tell you about it. There is no manifestation of it in their lives or characters.
Ezekiel speaks of this class of people and says of them, “My people come to you, as they usually do, and sit before you to listen to your words, but they do not put them into practice. With their mouths they express devotion, but their hearts are greedy for unjust gain.” (Ezekiel 33:31). Isaiah, as quoted by Jesus, says of the same class, “This people honors me with their lips — but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Of what religion they have Jesus says, “In vain do they worship me” (verse 9).
Acceptable service to God can never be rendered with the lips alone. It must come from the heart. If our hearts are not in the service, our service is in vain. Service to God must be the most real of all things. It must be the great outstanding fact of life.
God hates the mere form of religion. It is an insult to him. He knows our true intentions. Modern ritualism is a curse to the church. A true Christian heart needs no such form. When we draw near to God with our hearts, the Spirit within us makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. It is from such a heart that true service flows.
Acceptable service can come only from a holy heart. God’s standard for his worshipers is “that you may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God” (Philippians 2:15).
Lost sinners cannot do that which is pleasing in the sight of God. Repentance is the one thing upon which God centers their attention. To repent is the first thing for them to do. God loves to receive the service of the holy. We may be weak and faltering, but our service is acceptable to God none the less—if our hearts are right in his sight.
If we live in known disobedience to God, we might as well not try to serve him. Our hearts must first be righteous, before our lives can be so.
Service, to be acceptable, must always be willing service. God forces no one to serve him. He lays down the principle that “if there is first a willing mind—then it is accepted according to that a man has” (2 Corinthians 8:12). Our service is not judged by our ability to do great things. A child can serve as acceptably as a man; the ignorant as well as the learned.
The soul who serves willingly—takes God’s way gladly. He does not ask to choose for himself; he only asks what will please the Lord, and, once knowing that, he gladly does it. Paul said of preaching the gospel, that if he did it willingly—then he had a reward. It is only the willing service which has the reward. Willing service does have both a present and a future reward.
Charles Wesley Naylor is considered one of the most prolific and inspiring songwriters of the Church of God. He was bedridden for much of his adult life but wrote eight books, a newspaper column and over 150 songs. Many of his writings are in the public domain.
