Jesus Over ReligionSample

Devotion Over Obligation

Imagine a dad walking up to his child and saying, “Hey kiddo, you’re about to go through this wild jungle and I’m going to give you a backpack full of survival guides, equipment, and twizzlers. Good luck!” And the dad leaves his child to venture the journey alone. What’s the child’s chance of survival? Slim to none. 

We think it’s this way with Jesus. He is this religious King who said His commands, did some really amazing things, and then left us to model after what He did—alone.

Maybe you had a life-changing, eye-opening, heart-shattering encounter with Jesus. And you asked what it would look like to live a life in relationship with Him. What happened next? Someone hands you a Bible and tells you to read a gospel and figure it out. “Just start in the new testament, and you’ll learn.” WHAT!? We have the most complex book ever written and guided by the most and only complex Creator of the world and we’re told, “Just have a quiet time.” 

Jesus did not do this.

Jesus gave humanity the two boldest and most challenging calls to action: the sermon on the mount and the great commission. What do both reveal? We have zero chance of following God by ourselves. This is exactly why Jesus told His followers that He was leaving, but that He would send an “Advocate,” a “Helper.” Jesus—fully man, fully God—had changed thousands of lives in His ministry, and He tells people it is better that He goes away because the helper is coming. How could that possibly be the case?

As much as Jesus paved the way for us, the Holy Spirit is the One who reveals His steps. The Holy Spirit is our guide, our comforter, and our teacher. He is God inside of us who opens our eyes and hearts to do in us and through us far more than we could ever do ourselves. 

Jesus is over religion.