Beware of Religiosity

Beware of Religiosity.

Don’t get so caught up in “Religion”, that you lose sight of the “Relationship”.  Don’t let being bogged down in doctrinal legalism keep you from fully realizing your relationship with the One who created you.

There are many different opinions between various Christian denominations today.  Some say you must be baptized by submersion, some say that having the baptismal waters poured over your head is good enough.   Still others are satisfied with merely sprinkling.  Matthew 28:19 instructs us to baptize them in the “name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”, whereas Acts 2:38 declares that we should be baptized “in the name of Jesus Christ”.  The thief on the cross was not baptized AT ALL, yet still went to Heaven.

Some say Christ will return BEFORE the tribulation.  Some say He will return AFTER the tribulation.  Still others say Christ will return MIDWAY THROUGH the tribulation.  In reality, all of these people are lying, for Matthew 24:36 says that NO MAN knows the hour or day – not even the angels of Heaven.

Your best bet is to be prepared.  If you live by the river and prepare for the flood, but the flood doesn’t come, you’ve lost nothing.  By contrast, if you DON’T prepare for the flood and the flood DOES come, you’ve lost everything. 

We are told several times in the New Testament (Matt. 22:35-40, Mark 12:28-31, Luke 10:25-8) that the greatest commandment is to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.  The second is to love your neighbor as yourself.  It’s really quite simple: Love God, Love Each Other.  There’s no need to make it more complicated.  I believe that if we as Christians would focus more on simply loving God and loving each other, then a lot of our disagreements, disputes and drama would take care of itself.

But that’s just one man’s viewpoint.