first of all, i don't like the word religion because of what it represents to most people. i have a relationship with Jesus. He is my Father. He is my God and He is my Savior.
that being said, there is a verse in James that talks about religion. it says
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
i think that it is this exact verse that reminds me of my problem with "religion". see...the problem is, that people claim to have something that they don't even know the definition of! is this crazy or what. religion is not going to church or even memorizing verses and doing good deeds. it is taking care of orphans and widows, and keeping yourself from being polluted (or spotted - nasv, or stained - kjv, or corrupted - nlt) from the world. what does that mean? have you ever thought about that? how do you keep yourself from being stained from the world? i am pondering it.
some of my thoughts...and there are a lot, have to do with the first part of the verse. if you are looking after orphans, you are most likely not thinking of your own feelings and "needs" and comforts. right? ok. i am going to save all of those thoughts for another post, (consider yourself warned) but i just wanted to give you a little food for thought. think about that. think about how you are keeping yourself from being polluted.
what is your life saying that you are? not your words - your life. i don't think that anyone should ever feel like they can stop growing spiritually. we should always be moving forward. i liked this quote i found today.
"If your religion doesn't change your behavior, change your religion"
think about that.
Wow! Great post!
ReplyDeleteYou know what caught my eye? I always see the first part of the verse quoted (on blog after blog), but I have NEVER seen the last part attached to it (when quoted elsewhere ... obviously I have seen it in my Bible).
People often want to talk about what they are doing to "look after orphans and widows" (which is a GOOD thing). But, I have never seen a blog post that says,
"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this ... to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."
I just might have to do a post about that ...
Now, some people that are focusing on the first part of the scripture could, actually, be defining their religion as the "good deads" they do; because taking care of orphans and widows can be their "good deeds". There are many that can write checks to organizations that take care of orphans, without any understanding what a relationship with Christ really means.
However, it would be very difficult to "keep oneself from peing polluted by the world" unless you truly understood what that meant as part of your relationship with Christ. And, it would be through that relationship with Christ that you would even find the strength and wisdom to keep yourself from being polluted by the world.
How is our family keeping ourself from being polluted by the world?
... by not watching television
... by watching very limited movies
... by homeschooling our children
... by not buying our children everything they want
... by being careful about the books & magazines in our home.
Those are just a few of the ways that we are trying to live out this scripture verse.
Laurel :)
so interesting! i have never liked the use of the word religion in our society...bingo, that is what is wrong, society's view. i choose a personal realationship with my Lord and Savior!! thanks for another thought provoking post, i can count on you ;)
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