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People in this modern day are looking for every means possible to connect to a superior being. There is a yearning in the hearts of men to live and operate in the supernatural. Much have been said and taught about a supernatural being somewhere who could bring about these supernatural experiences. It then appears that everyone seems to have an idea about God, whom is believed to be the creator of all things and their quest to connecting with him, by and via various means, gave birth to what we now know as Religion. Be that as it may, it then behooves on individuals to finding out how to best connect with this God. But Religion itself has not been deemed as the perfect means of connecting people to God.
The reason is because the proponents of Religion have presented the idea of God to people from their various inadequacies and biases and therefore made that means of reaching out to God imperfect and laced with all manners of inadequacies. Modern-day Religion is laced with traditions of men rather than pointing people to God. Paul gave us a picture of this in Galatians 1:13-14. He said: “For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ Religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: 14 And profited in the Jews’ Religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.”
Paul was referring to Judaism in that Scripture and he concluded by saying it was the traditions of his fathers. In other words, even though Paul thought he was doing so much service to God, he later realized that the path he had toed till the time he met Jesus was not the right path. Even though to him, he was religious, but he eventually found out that what he was defending were simply traditions of men. Majority in the world today find solace in Religion, and they will even go to any length to defend that Religion. However, the more they go in it, the farther away they are from experiencing the true God.
Modern-day adherents of Religion believe in following certain rules, creeds, or regulations in order to appease God. Judaism for example was founded on the ten commandments and other commandments that followed afterwards. But the more the adherents of it tried to please God, the more they fell short of it. Why? Because many of them failed to realize that Abraham, their forefather, was justified by faith and not adhering to any rules or regulations. The Israelites at the time were a faithless people because they had lived all their lives in Egypt and they had been used to the Religion of the Egyptians.
God wanted to relate with them the same way He had done with their fathers — Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. It was not God’s intention to raise a religious dogma set of people. He wanted a free people (after all He made humans as free moral agents having a will), whom He could relate with and they would obey, just as with Abraham. God wanted a people who would submit their free will to His own will. But these lots aren’t like that. They wouldn’t wait for God. An example of their impatience was demonstrated in Exodus 32. God had seen their hearts that they would be stubborn and so, in order to make Moses’ work a lot easier in leading them, He called Moses to come up and receive a set of commandments for them which they must follow.
Moses had barely settled down on the mountain when the children of Israelites beckoned unto Aaron to make them another god.
“Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.” 2 And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” 3 So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. 4 And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
By so doing, they thought they could reach God. The Religion of Egypt had conditioned their minds into believing that certain things and elements like golden images and calves are means to reaching and appeasing the supernatural. But God was looking for a relationship, and not a Religion. God was looking for men and women who He could communicate with in simple terms and languages and they would obey. So, just to show them how inadequate that they were, God gave them the commandments to keep. And the more they tried to keep the commandments, the more they fell short of it. Just as it is today, the more people try to reach God through Religion, the farther away they are from God.
Well, is Religion then totally bad? No! Religion in itself is not bad, however, let us see what apostle James considered to be the true Religion. He wrote: “If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s Religion is useless. 27 Pure and undefiled Religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world” (James 1:26-27). If you are an adherent of any Religion, what apostle James wrote here should be your compass. It seems the passage is laced with humanity’s treatment of one another. Your Religion for example cannot claim to be peaceful and at the same time violent. Your Religion cannot claim to be the best and yet maltreat the fatherless and widows.
What then is God looking for? PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP. Connecting with God is on personal relationship rather than a group thing. If you examine those God had dealings with in the time past, it has mostly been on personal relationship. God said to Abraham, “walk before me and be perfect.” Even in the New Testament, Jesus gave us a clue into it as well. John 4:21-24 shows us:
“Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”
In other words, Jesus was telling the woman that relating with God is a personal thing, and not a group thing. The group idea had been that Jerusalem or the Mountain is the place to worship. But Jesus to the woman, now is the time to worship the Father even where you are. The initial idea had been that Religion is the way to God. But Jesus came and showed mankind that it is no longer through Religion, but through the grace that He has made available. Jesus did not come to establish a Religion on earth. Jesus was not a religious leader. As a matter of fact, the religious leaders of His days hated Him with so much passion that they got Him killed.
Jesus came to show us a way to the Father — and not a way to any Religion. He said in John 14:6: “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” If you want an express to God, then you come through Jesus Christ and not through any Religion dogma or fanaticism. Jesus is the express image of the Father and in Him we have access to the supernatural that we all yearn for. In Him is rest, In Him is peace, In Him is everlasting life. Accept Him into your life today and see your life take a dramatic turn for the better.
Thank you for reading!
Article Source: [Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
