Last night, I found myself terrible convicted after our Faith group - which is a bit remarkable to me, since I'm the one that leads it. The problem is, I'm not sure what it is over.
I sat down and made a list of the "garden variety" sins that I can usually pick out pretty quickly, but nothing that jumped right out at me.
Maybe it was the book we are starting: Malachi. A fine book, which I think has plenty to say to the Western Christian church of today about outer obedience versus inner compliance, and ways that we dishonor and disrespect God. Man's sinful nature is, if nothing else, terribly predictable and unchanging.
One thing that came to my mind as I was scrambling through Scripture last night, looking for some answer, was the concept of seeking God. Do I seek God? How does one go about this? God has a great deal to say about seeking Him, both the good and the bad, the rewards and the punishments - but do I really do it, or do I just make half-hearted attempts to go through the motions based on my understanding of God's word rather than what the word really says?
Do I have only outer obedience to the form of religion, or do I have inner compliance in my heart to the commands of God?
You will enjoy the Malachi study. There is quite a bit of "good stuff" packed into that little book.
ReplyDeleteAll I can tell you is over the last 5-6 months I have been learning who the Jesus of the Bible really is vs what Religion is. Growing up I think that what I thought was Jesus was really religion(man made) and the result was a legalistic attitude toward Christ. I am learning more and more about how to truly have a relationship with Jesus and not a relgion with Jesus.
Stay strong my friend and know that you are loved and blessed!