Religion v Relationship
The battle between religion and relationship has been on my radar since my freshman year of college. I’d grown up in church and never doubted there was a God, but it was the realization that there was a difference between religion and relationship that ultimately changed my life in the Student Center at Wake Forest University.God went to a lot of trouble to show me the difference. Chris had followed me to North Carolina for college. A year ahead of me in school, he transferred from Memphis to Greensboro College as a sophomore when I decided to enroll at Wake Forest. One semester in, he realized his ambition to play professional golf was severely hampered by the golf program at GC, so back to Memphis he went.I’d loved Wake my first semester, but I’d enjoyed the security blanket of a boyfriend more. As I started my second semester, the security blanket was gone. Without a boyfriend around, it became pretty obvious that I’d ignored most other friendship opportunities on campus. It was so bad that I decided a roommate change might be the best way to have a fresh start. Little did I know that in all the moving of parts, God was not only taking away my false god of a boyfriend, but He was also strategically placing me across the hall from two girls who understood there was a vast difference between religion and relationship.What I didn’t realize at the time of my salvation was how much the bible addressed this very topic. No one was ever supposed to get stuck simply believing a bunch of theology. The Law of the Old Testament was real and had a huge purpose: it was to remind people that they could never be good enough in their own power. The Law was a megaphone to help the Israelites realize their need for a Messiah. It wasn’t intended to become a list of rules with its own followers. The God who led His people out of slavery didn’t want His children to overlook His heartbeat and merely settle for religion.In the book of Hebrews, God spells out exactly how His plan was to go down. When Jesus arrives on the scene, He becomes the High Priest. He’s different from every human priest who has served. No longer will a priest have to keep making sacrifices as the commandment had insisted. Religion is exchanged and relationship is birthed. Hebrews 7:18-19 explains,
“For on the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced through which we draw near to God.”
Hard to believe the bible would call the former weak and useless! Scripture itself declares that the law made nothing perfect. Instead, we now have the opportunity to draw near to Jesus. We can be in relationship with the One who actually provides hope!
“For the law appoints men in their weakness as high priests, but the word of the oath, which came later than the law, appoints a Son who has been made perfect forever” (Hebrews 7:28).
If you can’t say you honestly relate to the idea of drawing near to God, maybe you’re like me; maybe you got stuck at religion and never knew there was anything more. There’s something so much greater for you to experience! If religion has left you feeling that God is distant, would you reply on my blog and give me the opportunity to share more of my journey with you?