Ritual and Rules or Relationship?by Dale Harcombe | More from this Blogger 03 Jun 2008 10:26 PM Jesus taught that Christianity is about a relationship, not the keeping of rules and rituals. Jesus warned his disciples they would be cast out of the synagogues, for following Him rather than abiding by the rules and laws of the Jewish religion, John 16: 1-4. Jesus' prayer, for his early disciples and for us, is that we may be one with him and with the Father, John 17:20-23. That's relationship! If we look back earlier in John's gospel we see another example of Jesus in relationship with his people. Jesus taught He was 'the good shepherd.' He is our shepherd and we are to listen to His voice and follow Him wherever He leads, John 10:2-5, 11, 14-16. So let me ask you now - is your religion one of rituals and keeping rules? Is it something you were born into and inherited from your parents? Or do you have a relationship with the Living Jesus? Are you reading His Word regularly and letting Him speak to you? There's'an old saying which goes 'God has no grandchildren.' In other words faith is not something we can inherit or that is passed down from our parents. It is something we have to decide for ourselves. God adopts us into his family when we believe in Jesus and accept for ourselves what he did on the cross for us, Romans8:14-17. If you are not sure whether you have ever actually come to this point of decision, have a look at this site and ask the Lord to make clear to you where you stand. Whatever you do, don't put it off. We don't know how many more days have left or when Jesus will return. Sometimes it may take a child to lead us. This week while teaching our school class of 7-8 year olds, one of the boys, after we sang 'He Died upon the Cross,' said 'I taught that to my Mom. She didn't know about Jesus.' Sadly a lot of people in our world don't know about Jesus. They still think Christianity is about keeping rules and rituals rather than relationship with the Living Lord. If you have entered into that relationship, how will you help others understand this important truth? If you have not, what is stopping you from doing it now? I'd love to hear from anyone who makes that commitment for the first time or who re-commits their life to following Jesus and maintaining a relationship with Him. Bible verses from the New American Standard Version Please visist these related blogs Learn more about Dale Harcombe  Dale has a passion for books and writing. She writes in various forms, from articles to poetry to fiction for children and adults. Relevantchristian tags User Comments PDeverit (283) 06 Jun 2008 09:44 PMI love that you pointed this out. I remember the scripture "the letter killeth, the spirit giveth life." Jesus lived a law of love, while the Pharisees were great at keeping rules and rituals. I'd rather be more Christian than more pharasee-like. Thanks.  Dale Harcombe (10333) 08 Jun 2008 08:29 PMGlad it was helpful. Interestingly our sermon at church this week picked up on similar thoughts. It's something we need to be reminded of often. Community Tags christianity, rules, relationship, religion, two ways to live Discuss this article
|
Christian categories |
