Dinner With JesusSample

It’s easy to confuse the ideas of religion and relationships. Religion, on its own, tends to do things because it has to. There is a practice and repetition involved that uses our minds as the driving force. But a relationship is different. A relationship involves our hearts and our minds. We’re drawn to relationships not out of obligation, but out of desire.

This passage from Isaiah talks about worship that springs from relationship and not religion. We can worship because we feel like we have to, or because we have been taught to. But the worship that honors God is the worship that doesn’t flow out of compulsion or obligation. Worship that honors God is authentic and overflows from our hearts. And it honors God because it’s real. God isn’t interested in anything we have to pretend to do. God wants us as we are. God wants our hearts because they’re drawn to Him, not because we’re pretending. Think about a time when you felt an authentic response of worship. What happened that made it come so naturally?