Hey everybody, welcome to the podcast, I’m Nick and it’s amazing to be here with you today.

Today is June 17.
Each day, we follow a simple rhythm: Slow Down, Read, Notice, Reread, Meditate, Respond, and Exercise.

Let’s begin.

Slow Down

Jesus is here. He’s sitting in your favorite spot, waiting for you to join Him.

You may have a million things on your mind, but for these few moments, set them aside. Relax. Calm your body.
Close your eyes. Take a deep breath in, then slowly release it.
As you inhale, whisper: “Jesus, search my heart.” 
As you exhale, pray: “Let my worship be real.”
Do this three times, then rest in His presence.

Read

One day some Pharisees and teachers of religious law arrived from Jerusalem to see Jesus. They noticed that some of his disciples failed to follow the Jewish ritual of hand washing before eating. (The Jews, especially the Pharisees, do not eat until they have poured water over their cupped hands,* as required by their ancient traditions. Similarly, they don’t eat anything from the market until they immerse their hands in water. This is but one of many traditions they have clung to—such as their ceremonial washing of cups, pitchers, and kettles.)
So the Pharisees and teachers of religious law asked him, “Why don’t your disciples follow our age-old tradition? They eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony.”
Jesus replied, “You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you, for he wrote,
‘These people honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship is a farce,
for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’
For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.”  
(Mark 7:1–8, NLT)

Notice

What stands out to you in this passage?

Is there a phrase or truth that speaks directly to you?
Hold it in your heart for a moment.

Reread

Hear these words again — and notice the distinction Jesus draws between honoring God with lips and honoring God with the heart.

Meditate

The Pharisees and scribes have traveled all the way from Jerusalem to find fault — and what they land on is hand-washing. Not a moral failure. Not a violation of the Ten Commandments. A breach of tradition. The disciples ate without performing the ceremonial washing ritual, and the religious establishment is offended.
Jesus quotes Isaiah in response — and the quotation is devastating in its precision: These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me. Their worship is worthless because they teach man-made ideas as if they were commands from God.
Lip honor without heart nearness. That is the diagnosis. And it is not a problem unique to first-century Pharisees. It is one of the most persistent dangers in the life of anyone who has grown up in religious culture — the slow drift from genuine encounter with God into the comfortable performance of religious habits.
Tradition is not the enemy. Practices and rhythms and forms of worship can be deeply good — they carry us when our feelings don’t, they root us in something larger than the moment. But when the tradition becomes the point — when we are more concerned with the form than with the One the form is meant to lead us to — we have traded the heart of worship for its shell.
Jesus is not calling His disciples to abandon practice. He is calling them to examine what is underneath it. Is the practice leading you toward God — or has it become a substitute for actually meeting Him?
Take a few moments to reflect on this question:

Are there religious habits or traditions in my life that have become more about form than about genuine encounter with God — where my lips are engaged but my heart has drifted?

Respond

Jesus, I want my worship to be real. All the way through.

Exercise

The rush of life will meet you again when you leave this sacred place—but you can carry this moment into your day by forming new habits.
Habit: Heart Check 
Today’s habit is a moment of honest evaluation: choose one regular spiritual practice in your life — a daily prayer, a church attendance habit, a Bible reading routine — and ask yourself honestly: Is this drawing me genuinely closer to God, or has it become something I do without my heart really being in it?
You are not looking for a reason to quit the practice. You are looking for a reason to reinvest in it — to bring your heart back to something your habit has been doing without it.
If the practice has become hollow, don’t abandon it — renew it. Bring your heart back. Start again with intention.
Pray before you evaluate: “Jesus, show me where my lips have been moving without my heart. I want everything I do in Your name to be real — not just routine.”

I have one ask of you before you go, would you please consider supporting this podcast? Click the support the podcast link and give a simple gift.

That’s your two minutes with Jesus for today.

Now, take what you’ve heard…share it and live it.

Until next time, keep slowing down, keep listening, and keep walking with Jesus