A woman was enthusiastically telling some friends about the value of a first-aid class she had recently completed. "Just yesterday," she said, "I was driving down 52nd Street when I heard this awful crash. I jammed on the brakes, ran back, and found a car wrapped around a telephone pole. When I got to the injured driver, I saw a horrible sight. My knees went limp, and I didn't know what to do. But all at once I remembered something from my first-aid training. Immediately I bent down and put my head between my knees, and it worked! I didn't faint!"

That's not the conclusion you expected, is it? In a similar way, the Israelites had failed to grasp the wider implications of their spiritual training. The prophet Isaiah charged them with looking after their own interests but disregarding the needs of others. Their enthusiasm for God was nothing more than hollow ritual. The condemning evidence of their sinful neglect was the poor, hungry, and afflicted among them who remained oppressed and unassisted.

True religion is more than a love for sound doctrine and proper worship. It includes first aid to our neighbor. That's the strongest evidence that our spiritual training is not being misapplied.  — Mart De Haan