MONDAY - Devotional

READ: Matthew 15:8-9

(Answer the question/s below in your app notes)

• What is the state of your heart? Is it honoring to God?

I remember the first time I ever saw a ventriloquist. It was at a state fair in a small little tent, with a dozen or so chairs to watch the show. The ventriloquist had a puppet sitting on his lap who would move its lips and have conversations with the ventriloquist. At the time, I was very young, so I fell for the act hard. “How is he doing that, Mommy?” I asked, tugging on my mom’s coat, demanding answers.

Ventriloquism is the art of making a puppet seem like it’s talking on its own while the ventriloquist (the person controlling it) actually does the talking. The trick is that the ventriloquist moves their lips very little or not at all, so it looks like the puppet is speaking. Essentially, it’s a clever trick of make-believe.

Jesus warns us of being spiritual ventriloquists in Matthew 15: “‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.’” If we say we love Jesus but our actions don’t actually honor Jesus, then we’re like a talking puppet. We’re saying the right things, but there’s no anchoring substance to the words. The challenge for us is simple but profound: let our hearts and actions match our words. Don’t just speak faith—live it. When our hearts are truly aligned with God, our words aren’t just a performance. They carry weight, truth, and life, unlike a puppet’s empty chatter.