My Bible sat open on my lap as I tried to focus on the passage for the day.

As my eyes drifted closed for the third time, I shook myself awake, telling myself I just needed to focus and get this done.

Multiple mornings had gone like this for some time now and I was frustrated with myself. Why couldn’t I focus on my time with God?

I eventually realized my problem was that worship had become a task.

No longer was my devotional time a time to connect and worship. I was “supposed” to have devotion time in the morning so I needed to check it off my list each day.

At this point in my spiritual walk, my worship had become worthless. It was in vain because I was trying to meet a rule that humans had set up.

In Mark 7:7, we are told that when we let human rules and ideas become our doctrine, our worship is in vain. Our worship should be focused on God and what He has asked of us, not on what society or church has asked.

Human ideas can be helpful in guiding worship, but they should never become the foundation of it. We must focus on the commandments of God and our relationship with Him first.