Serving God Not a Religion

I want to start off with what is most important in my life. Let me say that differently. I would like to start with the one thing that I constantly strive to make most important in my life.


My greatest desire is to serve God with all of my heart. As a Christian, I want to live out my faith in my every day life. But as my wife will be able to tell you I am definitely not perfect. Especially when I don't take out the trash as I had promised.


I want to give every part of my life over to God and be a good example of Faith for my wife, my daughter and my son; to be a role model to my family. My desire is for them to be able to follow in my footsteps as I follow in the footsteps of Jesus.


All this said, I see how there are times where my walk with God becomes a religious practice. I get so consumed with my church and the activity there that I forget about what God truly desires.


I do not want to be a religious person that focuses only on practices certain rules and rituals. I don't want to be a Christian that is always preparing for the next church meeting. I want to go deeper!


I want to always be at a place of relationship; a place where I can actually meet with God. I want to have Him close and personal. When I call out to Him there should be an overwhelming sense of security that He will answer. When I need help in a difficult decisio there should be a sense of peace. That is the place I want to be in continually. In the arms of the Father.


Often, I have to remind myself that the things I am involved in are not themselves that relationship. The fact that I am involved in church is not necessarily what connects me to God.


Sure, church can help get me fired up, but the fact that I attend churh or get involved in ministry is not a guarantee of Godliness. My desire to serve in minitry should be a direct response to what is already a real connection with God. It is because of that relationship with God that I should desire to do God's work. I don't think we should be doing God's work in order to get at that special connection. If we are going about things in that manner, then we have it all wrong.

I want my religion to be a true dedication to Jesus Christ period. I want to love Him wholeheartedly and in the process help others do the same.

There are those that try to introduce people to church rather than to Jesus. I want to point everyone to Jesus Christ more than to just a church. Don't get me wrong, bringing someone to church can give them a better chance to meet Jesus. Sometimes. Sometimes, unfortunately, because we each don't have the love and compassion of Christ, it ends up driving people away.

The bottom line is that as long as we are pointing people to Jesus, we will be engaged in something more than routine or religion.