“All major religious traditions carry basically the same message, that is, love, compassion, and forgiveness; the important thing is, they should be part of our daily lives.” Dalai Lama
Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen. Jude 1:24-25
Apropos: “fitting; at the right time; to the purpose; opportunely.” Dictionary.com
What is our highest allegiance? What is our religion? What do we worship? The knee jerk reaction to these questions from many will be: God; Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, or some other religion; and our Maker. But is that true? Is God our highest allegiance? Is our stated religion really our religion? Do we really worship The Creator? Maybe... If you’ve read very much of what I’ve written I’m sure you’ve figured out I’m a Christian. That’s the reason I’m writing this right now in fact. However, I can guarantee that I don’t always act like God is my highest allegiance. I guarantee I don’t always act like a Christian. And sadly, I know I get caught worshiping things other than God. And I don’t think I’m too different than many other people. That’s why so often we see Christians on the battlefield fighting one another “For God and Country.” That’s why we see Christians suing one another and enacting “cut throat” business policies. And when we’re successful we have the audacity to say that we’re blessed by God. Yes God does bless us and what we have we should always consider a blessing from God. However, does God bless us in overcoming a rival business? Does He bless us in defeating an innocent enemy? I’m not condemning all war. While we should all pray that war didn’t exist, it will continue to be justified as long as evil is present in this world. What I’m saying is this. We need to not only be introspective people, we need to invite God into our hearts, invite Him to inspect us. Too often introspection leads to self worship and aggrandizement. I say that out of experience. It’s hard to see our own faults. It’s difficult to open ourselves up to having our faults pointed out. It’s humbling to have our grand ideas of ourselves crushed. What we often fail to realize, is that we are constantly being scrutinized anyway. Our friends, family, and God can see us. Often it’s like we’re in this game of hide and seek with our faults. They’re out there for everyone to see. But we still deny them. We’ll even claim they don’t exist, until we’re caught. Let’s agree to be humble. Let’s do our best to not just open ourselves up for inspection, but be willing to accept the results. And most of all, let’s let God into our hearts. He’s the only one that can effectively find a fault and then clean it out. We want to be faultless right? Let’s introduce Him who is able to present us faultless into our hearts and lives. Let’s make worshiping Him our religion.
Daily Journaling Questions:
1. How did I help someone in kindness today?
2. What did I learn today?
3. What am I thankful for?
4. Who did I love today?
5. What am I dreaming of?
6. What about today do I want to remember forever?
7. What are my goals for tomorrow?
Thanks for reading,
Jake