In the olden days, Jesus, religion, and spirituality were synonymous. Over the decades, a different spin was placed on each word. Religion now means an organized belief that may or may not have Jesus as its center. Spirituality may include a Christ-follower, a devil worshipper, or something in between the two.
Religion is an institution full of tradition, even if the music or preaching style evolve over the years to keep up with worldly ways. Most of the aspects of religion follow traditional values, patterns, and principles, even though the customary morals do not necessarily apply any longer.
The religious men of Jesus’ day called out the loudest for His annihilation when He gave too much attention to true religion (James 1:27) and showed disdain for them and their legalism (Matthew 15:1-9). This proves that religion has no bearing on the dead spirit with which every human being is born.
We inherit the sin of Adam and live under sin’s domination until we are transformed by believing in the wonder of the Lord Jesus Christ’s sacrifice on Calvary’s cross and His resurrection three days later (Romans 5:12-21, 6:14-23). Jesus is not an organization, a stale tradition, or a belief system.
Jesus is the same, yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8-25). He is a person, the second person of the Trinity, the only begotten son of our Father God. He cares about the “sheep” given to Him by our Father (John 10:27-29), and He understands our needs and pains, because He suffered them too during His 33 years on terra firma (1 Peter 4:1, 15).
Jesus died to take our sin debt on His own shoulder (Peter 3:18), and the government of all the nations of the world will be on His shoulders as well at His coming to defeat the armies of the world (Isaiah 9:6-7; Luke 1:26-34).
He currently sits on His throne at the right hand of our Father, where He acknowledges us before God and intercedes for us (Matthew 10:32-33; Romans 8:34). His life, death, and resurrection are an eternal gift to anyone wise and humble enough to accept it (Romans 5:15).
Prayer:
Father God, we thank You for having a plan for our salvation before You ever set creation into motion (Ephesians 1:4-6). You have the number of our days on earth written in Your book, and You know the end from the beginning (Psalm 139:16; Isaiah 46:10-13). Remind us that we grow spiritually in Christ by following Jesus’ example in baptism, by daily reading and meditating on Your Word, by communing and listening to You while we pray without ceasing, and by consulting You and making no plans that are influenced by our human resources (Proverbs 3:5-6).
We want to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with everyone we meet, whether or not they respond by committing their life to You because You may want us to water a seed already planted, spur them to evangelize their world, or be an example to them of one who is not of this world and who trusts You with our whole heart (John 17:16-26; Psalm 37:3). Search us, O Lord, and see if there is any wicked intent in our heart, unforgiveness toward anyone (Mathew 6:14-15), or entertaining a secret sin. Then please lead us in Your perfect plans for us (Psalm 139:23-24; Ephesians 2:10).
Thoughts for the Day:
Meeting together as the Body of Christ allows us to encourage, exhort, instruct, learn, and love one another. We never want to live with a hypocritical attitude that will undermine the name of Jesus, but with a fervency to further His Kingdom on earth and to bring as many people as possible away from the brink of an eternity in hell and into God’s glorious light.
- John 3:18; Hebrews 10:25; Psalm 133:1; Mark 16:15-16; Acts 1:8
