Monday; October 21

As I drove to church the other morning, I heard an old favorite song, “(Give Me That) Old Time Religion”.  The version I heard was relatively new, but song seems to date back at least to the late 1800s.  The song has a catchy tune and the lyric harkens us back to an old time religion that was good enough for our ancestors – and as such, should be good enough for us.  Interestingly, even though I like the song, the sentiment has kind of troubled me throughout the years.  I remember hearing it as a child and, while I was drawn to traditional religion, I can see the challenge of doing the things we have always done them just because we have always done them that way.  As a child of the ‘60s and ‘70s that logic tended to fall on deaf ears – and I can only imagine the message it would receive today.  Again, I tend to like that old-time religion, but we must make sure it is built on truth and not just tradition.  I believe there is value in doing things the way they were done in the original Christian church, but we must be careful that we don’t compel people to do things the way we have done them just because we think that’s how they should be done.  

Rather than going back to that old-time religion, let’s focus on godly religion.  By examining the Bible and doing things in the way it describes, we will be able to avoid the slippery slope of personal preference.  Let’s take a page from the early believers in Berea who left a true legacy, “Now these were more noble-minded than those in Thessalonica, for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” (Acts 17:11). 

Think About It!

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