I am a Christian. By this, I mean that I am a believer in Jesus Christ. I have put my faith in him and have accepted his death on the cross as the atonement for my sins. I believe that when he hung, perfect and sinless, on that shameful cross, he hung there, in my place, thereby taking all of my sins upon himself. When I was 15 and heard of his suffering and broken body, battered and bruised for me, my heart was filled with the burden of my sin and the magnitude of his love. He extended his offer of forgiveness and grace to me, in that moment, if I would but place my faith in him and I did so, gladly. An exchange took place that day. My sin-scarred life and the penalty of eternal death and separation from God nailed to his cross in exchange for his sinless life and payment that covered me and granted me eternal life and a new relationship with him! What a day and how I loved him for what he had done for ME! "Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now am found. Was blind but now I see!" I felt, in that moment, that I would surely tell the whole world of my new birth and I was on cloud 9!
Ah.....but then I went back to school and to reality! If I remember right, I carried my Bible around for the next couple of weeks and attempted to talk about my new faith and to do what was right. We didn't attend church, as a family, and I didn't really begin to grow so I did not live a changed life...oh, the exchange had taken place, no doubt. My heart was never the same from that day, but it would be some 10 years later before I came into a dedicated Christian walk with Jesus Christ.
Jumping ahead to where I am, today....I'm thinking of a word...Man, I sound like a game show host! :-D The word is spirituality. Let me go back to my original thought. I am a Christan, today, as I was then, and I have had much opportunity to grow in my faith in Christ through personal Bible study, church attendance, fellowship with Christian friends, seminars, etc. I am not, however, always spiritual. You do realize that is possible, don't you? We can go around with our Christian banner on all day, listening to the Christian radio station, speak Christian"ese" (I sure hope I don't do that!), have little Christian sayings all over our desk, talk about our church activities and, shoot, we can even be working, AT the church, volunteering our time. In other words, we can be all up in the appearance of our Christianity....and miss the boat on spirituality!
You see, true spirituality is all about having a relationship with God, not religious "doings." It's about BEING. I'm not elevating the all too often purported "easy believism" here. Anyone that knows me, well, knows that I don't ascribe to a faith without works as an alive and viable faith. I'm talking about a living faith that walks and talks with God and gets our direction for life, every day, as we go. And me? Well, lemme tell ya, I just have to admit that there are times when I move into the arena of ritual, abandoning true relationship, and at a heavy price!
Ritual will never satisfy the way relationship will. Sometimes even the most seasoned Christians can be lulled to sleep by the counterfeit of ritual or religion, for a time, because it allows us to feel like we are "doing" something - you know, checking off the little boxes...but, friends, it leaves our soul's barren because there is no joy in ritual, only in relationship! That's how God designed it! Ritual or religion is a burden we aren't meant to bear. It really has nothing to do with being a Christian! And THAT is good news!
Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28-30 (New International Version)
"Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light."
If you find yourself in a dry place, today, a place of doing, without being, come go with me to the cleansing closet and lay that religious burden down. Yep, just take that heavy yoke of ritual and religious "doings" off your shoulders and come before the one who offers you relationship. He's waiting to spend time with you and give you rest. He will refresh your spirit and quench your thirst like a cool rain on the dry desert sand!
Come back, soon, and have some fun enjoying all the moments God has given you, today!
Still Climbing,
Cher
