I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. John 10:10b
Jesus came to give us life and give it more abundantly. The Jewish people had religion but their religion didn’t give them life, or life more abundantly. Over the years and over the centuries, the very things that had life, meaning, and value turned into tradition, regulations, and cultural customs.
Jesus came to offer us a relationship with Him that can grow, become stronger, and be dynamic. When you look at the scriptures in the book of Acts, Jesus’ own disciples could not have imagined what would happen to them after Jesus was resurrected and taken up to heaven. It was God touching humanity and pouring out His spirit on them rather than man trying to please God by trying to hold certain standards and regulations.
If you are a Christian, you already have a relationship with Jesus, but if we are not watchful of this relationship, our faith can become very religious. Many times we speak and encourage people to move from a place of holding on to a religion to a relationship with Jesus Christ. However, we should also speak and point out how our relationship with Jesus can turn into a religious experience.
The process of our relationship turning into a religious experience will probably look different for different people; however there are some common factors:
a. After walking with the Lord for many years, we grow accustomed to doing things a certain way. We become set in our ways of doing things, whether that’s our worship, our prayer, or our understanding of the word of God. We should keep ourselves in a position that we don’t know everything about the Lord and his operation in the body of Christ. We need to stay open to receiving new revelation, new ways of relating to Him, which can make us closer to Him and stronger in our relationship to Him. Apostle Paul (Saul) was a very religious man who thought he knew everything about his faith. This made him a dangerous man prior to his conversion because he thought Jesus’ followers were a threat to his faith. He couldn’t see that God was doing a new thing, and it looked different than what Paul (Saul) was used to. When the Lord healed his vision, he saw the truth in such a new and profound way, that he became one of the most powerful apostles who reached multitudes and planted many churches. Now, he was even willing to be persecuted and imprisoned for the sake of the gospel because he knew the truth like never before!!
b. Our church activities and ministries become more important than ministering to the Lord. If you have walked with the Lord for any length of time, you’ll find your hand in a variety of Christian activities and ministries. If we are not careful our relationship with the Lord can turn into a social gathering with other Saints to the point that we would rather be in the church than outside talking to an unbeliever!! No matter what we do for Jesus in the church, we must always have a heart for the lost and a desire to reach them even if it means saying “no” to some of the church activities!! Jesus gave the Great Commission to be fulfilled by all believers not just a few evangelists.
c. People’s voices in our lives become more important and louder than the voice of the Holy Spirit. We learn and grow in honoring Godly people and Godly leaders, but somewhere along the line, we find that some of these people may become spiritual celebrities. Christians can quote these individuals better than quoting a scripture. Christian celebrities should never take the place of the voice of the Lord or the word of God. While we will learn about Him from others we should know the Lord personally and have our revelation of Him. Since we have a personal relationship with Jesus, the poeple’s voice in our lives should be only a confirmation to what the Lord has already spoken to us. There could be something wrong with our relationship with the Lord, if we are constantly seeking people for the “Word of the Lord”.
We will continue with this discussion in the next devotional, but for now let’s examine ourselves in the above areas and allow the Holy Spirit to do an evaluation of our relationship with the Lord!!