Laws and Rituals

       Sometimes I think we prefer to ‘beat up’ on other people instead of taking a long, hard look in the mirror at ourselves.  We bash Adam and Eve for not holding out when there was only one thing they weren’t allowed to do.  We speak poorly about the Jews escaped from Egypt because they complained about everything after their release.  We ‘look down’ on the Israelis who were living in the Promised Land because they kept returning to idols no matter how many times they were saved by the Lord and we judge the people during Jesus’ day for not believing in Him since they were too busy following ridiculous laws and ceremonies.  Look in the mirror and see how we do the same.

And that is the way it was with us before Christ came.  We were slaves to Jewish laws and rituals for we thought they could save us.

…how can it be that you want to go back again and become slaves once more to another poor, weak, useless religion of trying to get to heaven by obeying God’s laws?  You are trying to find favor with God by what you do or don’t do on certain days or months or seasons or years. Gal 4:3,9,10 TLB

       These scriptures are talking about bondage that comes by following laws and rituals to find favour with God by what we do or don’t do on certain days.  Hmmm… seems like much hasn’t changed in 2000 years.  What do I mean?  We get up and spend ___ min. with God, reading His Word and a quick prayer or two.  We bow our head and say grace before every meal.  We say “God bless you” after a sneeze or when we shake hands during service.

       We go to church every Sunday, small groups on Tuesday, Bible study on Thursday, and ‘serve’ in a minimum of two ministries in the church.  We sing worship songs and even lift our hands occasionally.  We give our money in the offering and try to smile about it.  We bow our head and ask for forgiveness before taking communion.  We always pray, using the proper Christianese and end in Jesus’ name…  I could keep going, but what I’m trying to say is that 2000 years later our unwritten laws, rituals and trying to curry God’s favour hasn’t changed much.

       DO NOT misunderstand.  All the things I've listed are good if your heart is in them.  What I want us all to think about is the motives, if any, behind our ‘Christian’ actions and words, or see if maybe they are just a habit or ritual that we do without thinking about it at all.  Do we mean the words we say- or sing?  (I remember months when I was so angry at God that I couldn’t sing a word because the words would not have been true, so I stood silently.)  Is our heart in the words we say, or our actions?  If not, why are we doing them?  Do we think it will curry God’s favour and perhaps He will answer our prayers?  Maybe if we follow the seven steps to successful prayer…? 

       Why are we still in such bondage when Jesus came to set us free, (2 Cor. 3:17; John 8:36) and give us abundant life? (John 10:10)  Remember, God knows our hearts (1 Kn. 8:39) and if we mean what we say and do, then it will ‘abide’, but if we don’t it will be burned as stubble and a waste of our time. (1 Cor. 3:13-15)  I will end this post with some very important words from our late brother Paul:

Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free,

and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. (Gal 5:1)