Today I have a note from a great friend named Scott, hope you will be blessed by what he wrote: If you asked me today if I was religious, I would tell you “no”. This might seem weird if you knew that I go to church as often as I can, read and believe every word of the Bible, and pray to God. The reason I would say that is because of what people think when they hear “religion”. People tend to think things like laws, judgmental people, power, repetition, and as the result of some recent and unfortunate events, crazy people predicting the end of the world. Feel free to add your own words to the list. Chances are it’s not what Jesus Christ and His way is all about. – It’s not about religion and obligation, it’s about freedom and love.
You might not know but the word ‘religion’ is only used a few times in the Bible, under 10 in the NIV. Even the word ‘Christian’ is used very rarely. So then why are the christian churches, lifestyles, and beliefs (which are pretty much based on the Bible) all described with these two words?
Being a christian isn’t just about following a set of rules, and it’s especially not about taking away fun and comfort with guilt. I don’t see these laws and commands of Jesus as something that cramps my lifestyle or stops anything good, because I honestly don’t want to do those things. It’s also not about trying to tiptoe around the exact wording to still have as much fun as I can without officially “sinning”. It’s about being filled with God and in love with him so that I want to listen to him. It’s not a religion it’s a relationship.
So I’m not trapped by laws and rituals like religion is full of. I’m not just trying to avoid sins and go to church on Sunday so that I can be good enough to get to heaven. I’m not just looking for the easiest ticket into heaven because hell scares me. I’m not just following my family and friends into this because they told me to. I’m not just holding on to a lifeless religion, trying to find some kind of security in it.
- Empty Spaces by Brandon Peters
What I am doing is responding. A response to the unimaginable, eternal, and perfect love of God; a love that is so great that he sent his one and only Son to die for me because I messed up, not Him. He died so that I can be free from what I really deserve, and be free from a purposeless, lonely, and unsatisfied life here on earth.
Now I don’t want to just half-heartedly follow some religion of this world, I want to love God because I want to, not because somebody or something told me to. I want to love because He loved me first.
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10b
