Life is full of
choices. The choices I make will either
lead me on a good path that leads to life or a bad path that leads to
death. As an adult I make these choices
everyday. But as a child I needed to be taught
right from wrong. The proper way to
teach these lessons is not done by domination but by demonstration. An effective way for adults to best teach
children is by the witness of their lives.
Witness is more effective than words alone. It takes presence and time to bring a child
up into adulthood; the more the better.
I believe that is true in discipleship as well. Jesus certainly modeled that as we worked
with those he was grooming to be his witnesses after he returned to his Father.
Presence and time are rare commodities in the
world today. The effects of that are undisciplined children who grow into
adults who are continually searching for meaning and purpose, who usually find
themselves looking in all the wrong places, lost and alone. I believe God has the answers to meaning and
purpose and to all matters of life. He
created it and meaning and purpose are intrinsic in the life He made.
There is a lot of
negativity about Religion these days. It
has been made out to be an enemy in the Christian life rather than a helpmate. Human beings do some really weird things with
all that God has given them. The
weirdest and most harmful is to take things out of God’s hands and take over
building what they are sure God wanted to build. I believe Religion is one of those things.
Human beings took
God’s words and turned them into an organized system of beliefs and
rituals. God spoke words of life and
gave ways to live, support, and sustain that life. Human take a living organism and make it into
a mechanical system. One is alive and
continually produces life; the other works by routine and needs to be
maintained.
God said that, “my
people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me, the fountain of living
waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no
water.” I believe the same can be said
about Religion. I need instruction to
live the life God made for me to live. I
need to know the laws, principles, and standards for that life so that I can
live it to the fullest. I need a map for
the journey ahead that gives me the path to follow, makes the boundaries, and
gives me details of the landscape and things to be aware of. I need a standard set that I can measure my
growth by. This is what Religion means
to me. It is my “swimming buddy” in the
fountain of living water who watches over me and assists me if I get into
trouble.
The Truth for me
is that Religion is not an organized system of beliefs and rituals. Religion is a Person, God in the flesh, Jesus
Christ Himself. He said he came to
fulfill the Law and the Prophets…He is the Law and the Prophets. He is the rituals that foreshadowed him. He is the map and the standard. He is my swimming buddy in the fountain of
living waters.
To me Religion is
not a dead system to be discarded; it’s a Person to be declared to those who
are lost and looking for lives with meaning and purpose. He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. He calls to those who are lost and alone to
come and follow him; to be his disciple and be a witness to others to come as
well. Religion is a helpmate to
cultivating that call.
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