Religion noun
Definition of religion
1a: the state of a religious
a nun in her 20th year of religion
b(1): the service and worship of God or the supernatural
(2) : commitment or devotion to religious faith or observance
2: a personal set or institutionalised system of religious attitudes, beliefs, and practices
3 archaic: scrupulous conformity: CONSCIENTIOUSNESS
4: a cause, principle, or system of beliefs held to with ardour and faith
@credit Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary
By reading this definition, some people assume I am very religious, but their picture of what being religious is usually a picture of what I am not. I am a Christian, yes. But my faith does not centre around a bunch of regulations upon which I judge my behaviour and the behaviours of others to make sure we are all ticking off the boxes to make sure we all keep in God’s good books.
I don’t worship God because I am afraid that if I don’t, then God will punish me.
I don’t believe that saying specific prayers or performing certain rituals will put me in God’s good graces.
I don’t worship Him out of a sense of dry duty or tradition.
I worship him from a heart of gratefulness for all He does for me today and not just for what he did for me 2000 years ago by dying on a cross and rising from the dead. I serve him because he showed me how to be a servant through his actions. He reached out to me long before I reached out to him.
I worship him because of what he is doing for me today and what he will do for me tomorrow.
Most of all, I worship him because I love him. I love his heart; I love his works, and I love his transforming power at work in the lives of those I love.
Of course, I want to please him, and I want to please anyone I love. I love to discover what makes my loved ones happy. Their joy is my joy. When I make wrong choices that hurt his heart, my heart hurts.
There are things I don’t do even though I am tempted to do them because I know those things will drive a wedge between my heart and his.
Of course, I want my life to reflect His loving character to the world around me. And so, I do read the Bible to learn more about his character and to learn just how he does things.
Sometimes I mess up, but when I go to him in humility and without excuses, he’s waiting there for me and forgives me before I get the words out of my mouth. He doesn’t hold grudges; his mercy and love are new every morning.
No, I am not religious in the way you might assume me to be. I would find that unsatisfying. I love to laugh, and I love to have fun. I love to learn and discover who I truly am and how I fit into this glorious world. I am still discovering ME even at my age! I love meeting new people and finding out what makes them tick. I don’t reject people because they believe differently different than me or because they automatically typecast me as being something I am not when they learn I am a Christ follower.
It all boils down to this, I am in a relationship with the God of the universe, and it’s not because of anything I have done or will do. Our relationship all revolves around this simple fact: I took him up on his offer, came to Him, gave him all my junk, and laid all my burdens down. Oh, and I gave him my heart, I gave him all of me. I am his, he is mine. It’s more of a love story.
There’s no personal application today because this is my story. Hopefully, you’ve found your story and Christ is a major part of it.
Don’t forget to join me on YouTube. It costs nothing to subscribe to my channel, and it is simple to do. Click on the red subscribe button, then on the bell that appears. That easy! You will receive a notification every time I post a new video. I am posting daily short devotional messages there as well as random thoughts and casual “What’s up, Katherine?” segments.
Follow me on Facebook. You do not need to send me a friend request to follow me. However, I welcome friend requests if you message me first to say you know me from the website or email list! Here is the Facebook link.
If you are coming here from Facebook, you might not be aware that you can receive these weekly devotions via email. Sometimes, Facebook doesn’t show my links to these devotionals, and so you might not see when I post something new. How to fix that? Sign up for my weekly email that not only includes a devotional but also seven quotes from prominent authors, speakers, and heroes of our faith. I do not use this mailing list for any other purpose!
All Bible verses attributed to the ESV version unless otherwise indicated.
Until Next Week,
©2019 Katherine Walden
Sign up to receive a weekly emailed devotional by Katherine by using the following form.