Seek a Relationship

            I was a religious person until I started following Jesus.

            Confused? I’ll explain. Religion left me broken, unfulfilled, searching and yearning for more. Jesus filled the void. Seeking a relationship with Christ brought me peace and joy that religion never could.

            I’ve had several conversations over the past couple weeks about religion with people who are turned off by Christianity because of what they grew up in,  their denomination, their background, how they were taught in private school or Sunday school or what they learned from their parents. Often, they are turned off by some of the hypocrisy they see among believers.

            But the truth is we are all sinful people and we can’t base our faith on the way someone else lives their life and we can’t view our faith through someone else’s eyes.

            Following a religion, obeying a set of rules, carrying on certain traditions and rituals, reciting the same prayers over and over and over isn’t the answer. Jesus simply asked us to follow Him. HE is the WAY. He invited us to enter into a relationship with Him and to present others with an opportunity to get to know Him, our Lord and Savior.

            Religion teaches us we have to do this and we can’t do that. Christianity tells us we can ever do enough but we our salvation comes from trusting in the One who did it all for us.

            In our latest episode, Darren Mulligan, lead singer for We Are Messengers, said he didn’t like going to church because he grew up in religion and to him religion felt “so dead, so empty.” But he saw how his wife was transformed not by religion but through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

            The relationship is far more intimate than the religion. Inviting Christ into our hearts and into every aspect of our lives leads to change and is far more lasting and fulfilling than following a religion.