A little yeast Psalm 139:23-24 (NCV) God, examine me and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any bad thing in me. Lead me on the road to everlasting life. I hate religion. There, Ive said it. Actually, thats not such a shocking thing to say in our church, as its a pretty strong theme throughout our culture. I was once asked to speak at a university Christian Union a few years ago, and I opened with that statement, and got the reaction I hoped for (stunned silence!), but it allowed me to speak about the difference between worship based on religion and worship based on relationship. Religion is the enemys greatest weapon against an effective church, because it lulls a person or group of people into thinking that what theyre doing is right and good, when in fact it is drawing them further and further away from Gods heart, and making them feel good about it too! Religion is anything that comes from us relying on our own strength, experience, knowledge or preference, and is justified because in the past it worked and was clearly right and must therefore have been blessed by God so lets keep doing it because we dont want to do anything that displeases God. Jesus said that religion was like a little yeast that gets worked into the bread dough, and puffs it up when it gets baked – which is awkward when youre trying to make flat bread. In the same way, a little religion puffs up our heads in the success of ministry. God is the God of today and tomorrow, as well as yesterday, and God is the God of new (and different) things, as well as old. Religion will stop us in our tracks as we seek to walk in Gods new thing today, and Gods newer thing tomorrow. Religion will make us think that were doing the right thing. Religion will make us think were doing what God wants, and honouring and obeying His word, and anyone who does different is clearly in disobedience. Its such a subtle thing, but its aim is always to pull our hearts away from Gods heart. Relationship is ‘now’, is growing, bears fruit, enjoys intimacy, handles change, brings peace and confidence. David, in today’s verse, asked God to search his heart and reveal anything that was pulling him away from God. Thats a big prayer to make because the results could be quite uncomfortable – but David wanted nothing in the way of his relationship with God. As worshippers lets make Davids prayer our own, so we always bring pure, heart-felt worship to Gods House.
Posted on: Thu, 17 Oct 2013 07:38:56 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015