Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world (James 1:27).
The word that James uses for religion is actually worship. Taking care of the most needy around us is what God considers worshipful religion.
In Isaiah's time, the people humbled themselves and sought God by fasting. But God told them that that's not what pleases Him. If they truly wanted to seek God they could find His heart by acting justly, by ending oppression, by feeding the hungry, by sheltering the poor, by clothing the naked, and by caring for one another (Isaiah 58:6-7). This is true fasting; this is pure and faultless worship.
Sure, we are supposed to keep ourselves from becoming polluted by the world, but we are also supposed to live in the world... we're supposed to change the world (see a dangerous way to pray and marketing the royal priesthood below). Have we truly worshipped God this week?
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