Toastless Oven

It was a cheap classic with little that could go wrong. A twist of the knob opened the circuit supplying energy to the heating elements top and bottom. The mechanical timer ticked away assuring you of progress. When the bell rang, your bread had been transformed to golden toast.
 
I did all that and returned to find my bread totally unaffected. There it lay, white and limp. I twisted the knob again … and nothing. Well that’s not true. There was plenty of noise and movement, there was just no light or heat. Then I saw the issue; the unit wasn’t plugged in. If you can say this about a toaster… it was just going through motions.
 
Jesus faced the spiritual equivalent in his day. The most devout and religious looking people drew His greatest censure. Jesus confronted the Pharisees with the words of Isaiah,
 
“These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught.
(Isaiah 29:13; Matthew 15:8; Mark 7:6)
 
Externally, there was plenty of noise and movement, but inside there was no light and heat. They had no real connection to God they claimed to worship. Though they were called “Experts in the Law,” they could not see beyond the words to the reality. Jesus challenged them with an incredible claim, “You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. (John 5:39- 40)
 
Jesus had the audacity to say that all their religious knowledge and commitment had no meaning, because it had not led them into a trusting relationship with Him. He told them their hopes of eternal life were impossible unless they came to Him for that life!
 
Are you connected to THE source of life? Underneath the sound and movement is there the heat and light of a genuine relationship with Jesus?
 
 

^