Religion vs.
Relationship
Recently my thoughts have been on Religion vs.
Relationship. Our works do not define
our Salvation, our Faith in God does. I
believe it's the difference between Religion and Relationship:
-Religion
is what you do only when people can see you, Relationship is what you do when
no one is watching.
-Religion
requires little, Relationship requires your all.
-Religion
is what you do based on your circumstances, Relationship is what you do
regardless of your circumstances.
Consider the "Rich Young Ruler.” The young
man only followed the commandments that related to his fellow man and the ones
that could be seen and praised and not the commandments related to God. He held
his possessions and his works at a higher value than God. The only way he was
going to "have eternal life" was to quite literally "Sell Out”
and follow Jesus. However, he went away sorrowful because he wasn't willing to
be fully committed. Daniel was carried away to Babylon and “purposed in his
heart that he would not defile himself", I love that! Daniel was away from
his home, away from his country, away from influence, away from the
temple. No one would have known that he ate
of the King's meat...except God. See, Daniel had a Relationship with God, not
Religion, and because he was faithful in the small things, when no one was
watching, God blessed him. Joseph is another example of having a Relationship
with God and not Religion. He was
faithful to God even though he was sold into slavery in a foreign country,
betrayed by his master's wife, and thrown into prison. Joseph was faithful in
the small things, so God blessed him and gave him favor. Do we come to church so others can see our
attendance? Do we read our bibles so that we can have something to say over the
pulpit? Would you still come to church even
if there was no one else there for you to “see”? Would you still serve God even if everyone
you knew denied Him? We can't just go
through the motions and expect God to bless our lives. God doesn't want our Religion, he wants our
Relationship.
In terms
of marriage, he doesn't want a hyphenated last name. He requires full commitment. His standard is to completely let go of
ourselves. Another good example is
Saul/Paul. Saul had Religion but Paul had
Relationship. If we have a Relationship
with God then we desire to read our bible, attend church, tell others about his
goodness to us, and to be faithful to Him, regardless of our
circumstances.
