Monday – Gospels

Reading – Mark 7-8

Highlight Verses:

“Their worship is a farce, for they teach man-made ideas as commands from God.’ For you ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition.””
‭‭Mark‬ ‭7‬:‭7‬-‭8‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Here’s the difference between religion and relationship.

In religion, you obey a bunch of rules in order to earn your way into heaven.

When you have a relationship with God, you follow his leading out of gratitude for being given a new life and trust that God knows what’s best for you.

We can never earn our way into heaven because we will never meet God’s standard of perfection. Jesus is the only one who ever did. He laid down his life as a sacrifice in our place that we may be with Him for eternity in heaven and have a relationship with Him in this life. That’s an amazing gift that we do our best to live up to, though we know that we will fall short.

I’ve know many people who, even after they’ve accepted God’s forgiveness, still feel like they have to keep to a strict set of rules or they will lose their salvation. For you I have good news.

The only way you could lose your salvation is by rejecting Jesus.

I also know many people who have accepted God’s forgiveness and live like there are no rules. I have good news for you as well.

Following the principles set forth in the Bible will lead you to a richer, more fulfilling life.

Obeying God’s commands will not earn you heaven, but it will bring you closer to the God of all joy.

Some think that if they obey, they’ll miss out on all the fun. In obedience is more fun and joy than you can imagine.

The path of sin, if followed to the end, can lead you so far from Jesus that you reject Him and forgiveness, which is the furthest thing from joy I can imagine.

Have you been stressing over every little religious rule you’ve ever heard of?
Or have you been seeking fulfillment in sin?
Trade those paths in for the path of relationship with the God of all Joy!