Do you think all GOD wants are sacrifices — empty rituals just for show? — 1 Samuel 15:22 The Message
How easy it is to get lured into a performance! Jesus reserved His sharpest criticism for religionists and hypocrites.
How do we steer clear of a performance-based religion?
Let’s go back to the Garden. Adam and Eve sinned. They hid. They sewed fig leaves. But the fig leaves and the Garden could not cover their folly and their sin. Only God Himself could clothe them and take away their nakedness.
There are two honesties at work here. One is honesty with ourselves. We must face who we truly are. There is no shortcut for this. Until we are honest with ourselves, we cannot move forward in the Christian life. The second is honesty with God. That means we bring it all to Him — our hate, our shame, our apathy, our pride, our fear, our desires — whatever we find inside.
This is where transformation takes place. When we bring ourselves, naked and bankrupt, to God, we discover a God we didn’t know was there. Adam and Eve didn’t know that the Lord would clothe them. The leper didn’t know that Jesus would touch him. The woman caught in adultery didn’t know that Jesus would free her. Even Peter didn’t know that Jesus would restore him.
Whatever God has for us will be found when we throw away the show, and and choose the path of honesty.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.