It seems that for my whole life I have followed a hand me down religion, which had a little bit of life but not a whole lot, just enough to keep me going. I understood it all in such a complicated way, though I often like complicated things, sometimes things are remarkably simple and we complicate them to our detriment. In farming we think we have to do all of these things, add all of these potions and powders etc, when all that really matters is that we feed the soil microbes and they will feed us. I am beginning to see how many people, me especially, complicate religion to a point where it is impossible, to the point where we are not worshiping God, but worshiping the things that we do that we think are worshiping God! In the end it appears the easiest thing to do is just leave the religion in the most convenient spot and go on!
It’s pretty simple really. The commandments are summed up in this “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and all your strength” and “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Loving The Lord our God encompasses so much it is mind boggling when I look at it. It goes from resisting sin to the shedding of my blood if needed (Hebrews 12:4). To feeding the hungry (Matthew 25:34-45 (not just talking about eating here I am sure, feeding with the word of God as well as with a nice lunch!) To do the will of our Father in Heaven (Matthew 7:21) and on and on I could go with this! I am not a Bible scholar so I can’t go through everything reliably; I would recommend that whoever reads this takes the time to search out for himself/herself this exciting subject, especially how it applies to you. I would enjoy any feedback, ideas and comments you may have on this.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I did a little bit of a Bible study along the lines of your post and came up with a few different, helpful verses.
In James 1:27 we find the definition of 'pure' religion: "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." To remain unspotted we must deny ungodliness and worldy lusts, and live soberly, righteously, and godly (Titus 2:12) But we can't deny worldliness in the flesh (Romans 8:8), we have to be "in the spirit" (Romans 8:9) and led by the spirit. "For as many as are led by the spirit of God, they are the sons of God (same chapter in Romans, verse 14). If we walk in the spirit "ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh" (Galatians 5:16-25). That means we'll easily avoid all of the sins listed in that chapter in Romans simply because we are led by the spirit! A living, personal relationship with God, not just a surface religion. It's exciting to think of it that way! Christianity isn't/shouldn't be a surface religion. It's like with some issues that are not entirely clear in the Bible, we can't say you aren't a Christian if you worship on Saturday, or if you worship on Sunday, or if you eat pork or not. Each person needs to hear directly from God himself so he is not just blindly obeying a set of rules and trying to work his way to heaven. Works without faith is dead! (I know I twisted that verse a bit, but you get the point)
Post a Comment