Friday; November 17

What does godly religion look like?  Often, when we discuss religion we focus on what we do (and why we do what we do) in our worship assemblies.   While I believe there are some things that are necessary to do (and some things to avoid) during our church services, there is another layer that should be taken into account.  When the Jews were struggling with being pleasing to God, He made an interesting comment about their spiritual disciplines by saying, “Is this not the fast which I choose, to loosen the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free and break every yoke?  Is it not to divide your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into the house; when you see the naked, to cover him; and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” (Isaiah 58:6-7).  I am sure that God would love to have had His believers observe appropriate acts of worship, but the way they treated their fellow man was just as important to Him.  Sure, giving up food in a fast was something that could bring a spiritual nature to their lives, but giving up their self-centered action of abusing or ignoring the poor and oppressed would be a sure sign of their spiritual conviction.
If someone asked us to describe our religion, how would we answer?  Would we tell them what our church service looked like or how we participated in service to our fellow man?  Would we quote the dictates of our faith or would we describe to them how much we love God and our fellow man?
Let’s make sure we keep our worship assemblies pure and respectful to God, but let’s make sure our service to Him is seen in our service to His creation.  Do we care about God – is that shown in how we care about others?
Think about it! 

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