Daily Scripture Reading: Matthew 15:16 KJV
Matthew 15:16 KJV
(16) And Jesus said, Are ye also yet without understanding?
Today’s Devotional Is What is Religion?
This chapter teaches us that true religion is not about eating and drinking, or even outward ceremony. It is the purpose of the soul, the continuous drawing from Christ of the life-power we need to do our ministry and work for others. This can be illustrated by the example of the diver who explores the ocean’s bottom but draws on the breeze that sweeps across the ocean-surface.
The outward manifestation of religious forms was not something that Our Lord underestimated. He showed us how to do this by attending the Synagogue and Temple services, and by spending nights in prayer and constant reference to Holy Scripture. But these were just the outward expressions of His unbroken relationship with His Father. Human love is not merely expressed in an outward way, but it also includes the hidden purpose of the heart. Without this, the spring will cease to exist!
These are perhaps the best definitions of pure faith: The first is from the Old Testament. It says, “Do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before thy God.” The second is from the New Testament. It says: “Pure religion and undefiled in front of God and the Father”: To visit widows and fatherless in their suffering and to remain unspotted from the rest of the world. We need the Holy Spirit to fulfill each one.
Being truly religious is possible for all of us. However, we need to take advantage of the work of Jesus Christ to get to God. He is the only way to God. He can forgive all our sins and give us infinite grace and help for the future. He is our Surety and Friend. We may be partakers in the Divine Nature through Him and can escape the corruption that is in the world due to lust.
PRAYER for Today
Graceful Lord, grant me the pilgrim spirit so that I may live in the world, and not out of it. I beg of Thee to help me resist fleshly lusts that are a threat to the soul. May I live a life worthy of the heavenly calling. AMEN.