Isaiah 1:14-17 -- On Washing and Worship

"Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow."
Isaiah 1:14-17


Here, God is telling us basically that going through the motions of worship is really pointless if we are still doing evil. He asks us, instead, to wash the blood from our hands, to stop participating in evil works, and to change... to learn goodness, helping the people around us. Reading past these verses he asks us to come to him in sincerity and repentance, and he can help us even now, no matter what wickedness we are caught up in, and cleanse our sins.
Today, let's worry less about the details of worship and more about cleaning up our lives, so that when we do worship we are doing it in sincerity rather than hypocrisy. We're not going to get far if we have no intention of actually changing... we can start with the external, but saying the words and going through the motions of repentance doesn't work long term unless we are also working on it internally. Let's first determine to wash our lives of evil, and then talk to God about it and get help with the process. As long as we are willing to try, he will listen and help.