“When did you get so religious?”

 

James 1: 26-27

Jan and I were with a group of people we have known since our high school days and some of them even longer, and Ronnie asked this question: “When did you get so religious?”  My first thought was, am I acting like some Pharisee, or is it because I am not drinking and making a fool of myself, like I did often as a young person in school?  I do not like the tag religious, it has a way of putting you in a box, it’s like asking, are you a Baptist and then they know; you do not dance, drink, and a few other things like that in public.  Often, I try to explain that I’m into a relationship with Christ, and that is the heart of being a Christian, that religion is what you can do for who or what your god is, but being a Christian is about what God has done for you. 

First, let me state that all of us are religious about something, it may be golf, making money, church, or your family, but if it is not centered in a relationship with Jesus Christ your religion is of no eternal value, your god is not worthy of worship.  I have often said I’m not religious but that’s just not true, I am, and so are you, it’s the object of our worship we must address, each one of us.  The Holy Spirit put these thoughts into James’ mind, and once more I had to subject my will to the authority of the Bible.  This is what James said in 1: 26-27, “If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart; this person’s religion is worthless.  Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.”

I’m like the guys returning to earth in the Challenger, we have a problem Houston, yes, much of my religious life I’ve deceived myself.  A bridled tongue would not be the description of anyone who has known me.  Too often I’ve been fast to speak and slow to listen, and the world has often stained, or tainted my life.  As I age, it is becoming clear that I need to ask for help in many areas of my life, and dear Father, I’m in trouble, I need a complete make over, I need to be like my Master.  The only One who has a vote has often called my religion worthless.  Now that we have a clear picture of what our Father in heaven calls pure religion that is undefiled before Him, what will you and I do with this information?

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice