Religion. Jesus hates it. No, REALLY! He told the religious leaders of his day that they were hypocrites, white washed tombstones that looked clean on the surface but inside were full of dead men's bones....he chided them to wash the inside for cleanliness rather than focusing on ceremonial washing. A radical thought then and now! It's easier to follow a set of rules than to give ourselves to developing a relationship and millions of people do it every day, around the globe. Are you a rule follower or a relationship builder? Which am I?
Here's the down low. Religion is all about the outside and how to clean it up nice and pretty so it looks good. Do this and don't dare do that! Go here but don't go there! Make friends with these people but avoid those at all costs and on the list of rules goes. Lean in friends.....grasp with me, once again, that God is interested in relationship....not rules!
The one who is forgiven of much loves much, Jesus said. As we learn to know God and realize the grace he freely offers us, through his Son's atoning death on a cruel cross, our devotion should grow and we will want to love him more in our comings, goings and doings...not so as to follow a set of rules but from a heart of gratitude and devotion to the One who loved us and gave himself up for us. I want to love him more!
Follow after relationship, friends, not rules. A good reminder for my own heart today as it is prone to follow a set of rules and wander from the joy of relationship.
Still Climbing,
Cher
