Religion or relationship?

Today: Zechariah 1-7

Religion is sometimes a controversial topic. One definition?

A collection of practices, based on beliefs and teachings that are highly valued or sacred;
Any practice that someone or some group is seriously devoted to;
Any ongoing practice one engages in, in order to shape their character or improve traits of
their personality...

In this definition, religion is something you practice--it's something you do. This is how many people all over the world define it: they see religion as traditions and rituals they complete.

In today's passage, God's people asked Him about one of their religious practices--routine fasting. Check out God's response:

"When you held days of fasting every fifth and seventh month
all these seventy years,
were you doing it for me?
And when you held feasts, was that for me?
Hardly.
You're interested in religion,

I'm interested in people.

"There's nothing new to say on the subject...
God-of-the-Angel-Armies said then and says now:
"'Treat one another justly.
Love your neighbors.
Be compassionate with each other.
Don't take advantage of widows, orphans, visitors, and the poor.
Don't plot and scheme against one another—that's evil.'

God's response is interesting because it's actually about practices, too--but it's MORE about hearts, motivations and of course, people. Religion is about things you do, but a real relationship with God is about loving Him, loving people and living with a transformed heart, mind and spirit.

Tomorrow: Zechariah 8-14

Promiscuous people

Today: Ezekiel 16-17

I realize that the title of this post may seem strange, but it coincides with the story of God's people in today's passage.

God gives Ezekiel an amazing story illustrating how His people treated Him. God was like the good guy who rescued a battered and abandoned woman--and then cleaned her up, married her, loved her and showered her with the best kind of life--only to find that she left it all to become a whore (God's word choice, not mine). One of the worst parts? This woman killed her own children by sacrificing them to idols. Whoa!

But hold on--God's people weren't literally prostituting themselves out to others. They were whoring their hearts and their worship. They abandoned the God who rescued them time and time again--for idols. They chased after empty pleasures and faux religion when real love was right in front of their noses. Sound familiar?

The story in today's passage was directed toward Israel thousands of years ago--but it is a poignant picture of mankind, even today.

I don't know about you, but when it comes to God (or anything, really!), I don't want to be a whore. I don't want to treat true love like trash. I don't want to chase phantom religion that adds up to nothing. I want to remember my rescue--and the One who gave me life, love and a reason to be.

Tomorrow: Ezekiel 18-20

Undeserved help

Today: Psalm 78-79

I don't know why, but there are lots of religions based on the idea that you have to earn your way to Heaven/Paradise/eternal bliss. If that were true, I think most of us would be in a lot of trouble.

One of the interesting things about the God of the Bible is that He is a God of grace--He gives people help they don't deserve. Here's something that stood out to me in today's passage:

It was clear they didn't believe God,

had no intention of trusting in his help.

But God helped them anyway,

commanded the clouds

and gave orders that opened the gates of heaven.

He rained down showers of manna to eat,

he gave them the Bread of Heaven.

They ate the bread of the mighty angels;

he sent them all the food they could eat...

Interesting, huh?

I'll be clear: I'm not saying that God's grace extends to eternal salvation for all mankind. (The Bible is pretty clear that to receive salvation, people have to first believe in God and ask for His forgiveness--see Romans 3:9-26 or 1 John 1:9.) I'm also not saying that God's grace is a carte blanche to intentionally mess up and disobey Him (see James 2:14-26 for more on that topic).

What I am saying?

God is just and God is love. The two ideals aren't mutually exclusive. God offers us so much we don't deserve at all--just because of His goodness. We may not see that grace every day (during this blog journal, we've already talked about the fact that sometimes bad things happen to good people). But every day is--in itself--a gift you and I don't deserve. We have a lot to be thankful for.

Tomorrow: Psalm 80-85