The easiest way to get distracted from what is important about your spiritual walk and view is to look at others and to be worried about what people see when they look at you.

A common excuse why people say they do not follow religion or go to church is because they say it is full of hypocrites. They are right. But do not label church and religion as the only location of hypocrisy. Watch TV for 10 minutes, listen to the radio for a while, go to work on the job and take a look around...hypocrisy is everywhere in society.

Commonly, however, because of the expectations placed on church attenders and the leadership, hypocrisy is probably more impacting in religious circles.

The point of this study is simple. Don't go to church, or have an interest in things spiritual, for people. Focus on God and your relationship with Him.

The Jews were instructed to sew a thin blue thread into their garments to remind them that they were different from others in their religion. By the time Jesus came to earth, these threads had turned into large borders. It became more important to show others that they were different than it was to just be different. The focus became blurred. And, of course, a focused God condemned them for "enlarging their borders." He knew their religion had become one of outward holiness instead of inward holiness. The garments were hiding their fruit...which should have been love, joy, peace, longsuffering, temperance, meekness, gentleness, goodness, and faith. The physical appearance of religion became more important than the inward relationship of religion.

So, in your relationship with God, whatever that may be, remember to focus on Him and not the humanity He created. People always fail, even those who appear not to be failing, or have not failed in the past. We are all short of His glory and in need, desperately, of Him. There isn't time to buy more blue thread...focus on the inner-man...it's the only thing leaving this world of physical matters.