*Blink*

Being a Christan is not cutting yourself off from real life; It is entering into it more fully.

This is one of those quotes that make you blink once or twice when you read it.

Well, maybe depending on how you were introduced, or "inducted" into the Christian faith.

If you were raised in a home where "keep holy the sabbath day" for example, meant not even reading a newspaper, let alone watching tv or playing with your friends, then the above quote might pose a problem.

I'm not particularly knocking that attempt at personal holiness, as I know some folks practice that sort of thing out of deep conviction toward what they think the bible and Jesus and the saints expect them to do.

However, my personal realization is that for me it is nothing more than a shallow attempt at religiously keeping the Law, which I have been freed from. I rank it up there with thinking that the Sabbath day has to be on Sunday. *blink*

Someone just blinked on that one.

I find less restraint, less bondage, in Christ than I ever had from the world. (should be lots of applause here)

I found it through the teachings of Jesus.

For example:

Matt. 15:7-11 - (7) "You pretenders (hypocrites)! Admirably and truly did Isaiah prophesy of you when he said: (8) These people draw near Me with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts hold off and are far away from Me."

Bland religious observation. *blink*

(9) "Uselessly do they worship Me, for they teach as doctrines the commands of men."

We often find ourselves adhering to the doctrines of men rather than the teachings of Jesus. Jesus says that is "useless". *blink*

(10) "And Jesus called the people to Him and said to them, Listen and grasp and comprehend this." 

*lot's of mass crowd blinking*

(11) "It is not what goes into the mouth of a man that makes him unclean and defiled, but what comes out of the mouth; this makes a man unclean and defiles [him]."

*blink* *blink* *blink*...

Jesus goes on to expand on that truth by basically explaining that it is the condition of the heart that determines the holiness or unrighteousness of a person.

Not religious actions or activity.  *blink*

Good and pure things come from a good and purified heart. 

Not washing your hands before eating is not a crime. Neither is failing to utter a religious mantra before eating. *blink*

Picking a grain of wheat off of a stalk on the Sabbath is not a crime according to Jesus.

Neither is reading a newspaper, having the family over for a big dinner and some whiffle ball in the backyard, or taking a nap. *blink*

Mark 2:24, 27 - "And the Pharisees said to Him, Look! Why are they doing what is not permitted or lawful on the Sabbath?" *gasp*

(27) "And Jesus said to them, The Sabbath was made on account and for the sake of man, not man for the Sabbath." *blink*, and maybe even some associated *gasps*, and perhaps a few hearty "harumphs".

Sometimes I wonder if we don't suffer from some sort of Religious Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (ROCD). *blink*

That means we do things repetitively, over and over and over again, because we THINK we are pleasing God. Yet all the time they have become so routine that they simply have lost all meaning and do nothing to honor and glorify God.

I hope you're getting my drift today. 

We do this in our personal spirituality. We do this at church when we routinely "do" anything.

Is it any wonder that the salt (us) loses its effectiveness?

By the way. Blinking is a good thing.

I hope I made you do it.

1 Corinthians 10:31 - "So then, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you may do, do all for the honor and glory of God."

There it is! Right there! The freedom is in doing it all for Him!

Run it all past Jesus today!

Keepin' it Real,

Pastor Kevin <><

www.reallifect.com