For those
of you who accepted my challenge last week; why all the discomfort, guilt,
embarrassment and feelings of inadequacy?
Where are we instructed under the New Covenant that we must practice
such legalism in order to be true worshipers of God? Worship means to “prostrate oneself” before
the one being worshiped. While the
Spirit of God may occasionally throw us to our knees, true worship does not
include ritualistic activity at a specific time and designated place whether
that is in a basilica or at our devotional spot at home. Worship is showing reverence to Him in every
conversation spoken and every thought considered, no matter the outward
circumstance. Worship is not something
performed under specific conditions, but is a move of the Spirit that can not
be resisted.
Jesus declared, “…, a time is coming
when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem 4:21 & 23).
While there are still a few nagging rituals lingering in my life, the
majority of them have been stripped away.
Considering that my spiritual approach is foreign to most in the
“Christian” arena, I’m often strongly judged for my lack of compliance to the
general expectations. Sometimes the
judgment is verbal, often it is not.
Facial expressions are worth a thousand words! Luke speaks of Jesus describing such self-righteous
indignation;
"Also He spoke
this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and
despised others: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the
other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I
thank you that I am not like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give
tithes of all that I possess. And the tax collector, standing afar off, would
not so much as raise his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, God be
merciful to me a sinner. I tell
you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will
be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted" (Luke 18:9-14).
Thinking that we must practice specific rites and perform
certain rituals in order to be right with God is what Scripture describes as “setting
up idols” in our hearts. When we live by
these kinds of laws, we’ll always feel as though our efforts are never enough! They are considered “idols” because our focus
is on attempting to fulfill them rather than on the One whom we desire to
worship.
This is what the
Sovereign Lord says: “When any
of the Israelites set up idols in their hearts and put a wicked stumbling block
before their faces and then go to a prophet, I the Lord will answer them
myself in keeping with their great idolatry” (Ezekiel 14:4).
While our
attempts may be genuine, the God who created the sunflower to track the sun is
not impressed with our efforts to follow the Law. Not only has it already been proven that we
are not able; He gave His Son to death for this very reason! When we continue in our efforts, we are
ultimately proclaiming that what Jesus did on our behalf was not good
enough!
Those who
claim to live by the Law and demand that others do the same, must then realize
that they don’t get to pick and choose which Laws they want to follow. So, while you are out shopping for the right
underwear and getting circumcised (Gen 17:13 -14), the
rest of us will be enjoying the fulfilling spontaneity to worship God with a
circumcised heart (Romans 2:29 ), according
to how His Spirit leads us.
You who are trying to be justified by the
law have been alienated from Christ; you have
fallen away from grace. The only thing
that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:4 & 6).
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat
or drink, or with regard to
a religious festival, a New Moon
celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a
shadow of the things that were to come; the reality,
however, is found in Christ (Colossians 2:16 -17).
Whole-Heartedly,
Bonnie
P.S. Please
feel free to contact me with questions, thoughts, topics you’d like to ponder
or to read past articles at: http://whole-heartedlife.blogspot.com/. You may also contact me at:
Bonnie
Jaeckle
In Search
of the Whole-Hearted Life
Diagonal
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