LIFE LESSON: We do not recieve God's best by following religous rituals

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When I was still a member of a denominational church, going to a church service was a tick box exercise for me because I believed God blesses us when we observe religious rituals like regular church attendance and I did not want to miss out on God’s blessings.

Another ritual which I observed fellow denominational church members perform was fasting during Easter, this is one religious ritual I never participated in because I could not find anyone to convincingly explain to me why this was done. 

The other reason I did not participate in this ritual was that most of those who participated were committed to change during the period of fasting only.They would go back to their old ways immediately afterwards, so my observation was that this ritual did not have a lasting impact. Nevertheless I admired those who participated in it every year, because even though I could not see any physical impact on how this has changed them I believed they have positioned themselves well to receive God’s best. 

I also envied those outside the Christian faith i.e. Orthodox Jews and Muslims. To me they seemed more committed to their religious rituals than Chirstians  I admired them because I really believed they were well positioned to get more blessings than me because I did not do well in my commitment to my religion and its rituals.

Misinterpretation of God's character

I had misinterpreted the character of God because he does not give himself fully to us unless we give ourselves fully to him; it does not matter how many religious rituals we participate in. 

The reason why God reciprocates our commitment to him is that as mankind we have proven over and over again that when he blesses us under those circumstances we use the blessing against him.

God blessed King Solomon with wisdom but over time he used his blessing to marry a lot of non Jewish women, a direct defiance of God’s Law to the Israelites.

In the Garden of Eden Adam and Eve were in direct fellowship with God that was their blessing . But when an opportunity presented itself they disobeyed God’s instruction not to eat from the tree of knowledge, as a result they were kicked out of being in direct fellowship with God.

God releases his best to us when we give our best

Abraham and Sarah were blessed with one child. His name was Isaac, whom they had waited  for many years before he was conceived. When Isaac was a teenager God instructed Abraham to lay him down as a sacrifice. Abraham did as instructed but God did not let him kill Isaac. Instead he brought him an animal to use as a sacrifice.As a result of that Abraham’s descendants were made God’s chosen nation. 

Jesus in his humanity gave up his life so God’s purpose could be fulfilled as a reward Jesus was exalted to sit on the right hand of God.

Both Abraham and Jesus did not use God’s blessing against him.They did not hold on to it when God asked them to give it back they let it  go as a result God released his best to them. This also applies to us 

This is not about salvation.

Our belief and confession that Jesus Christ is Lord inherits  us salvation and our eternal destiny becomes heaven. Therefore salvation is free and cannot be earned. So this principle is not about inheriting salvation but earning our inheritance in the Kingdom of God also known as heaven on earth.

When we are saved the Bible tells us our eternal destiny in heaven is guaranteed  but unless we move beyond belief and make Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives we will not experience the life God had intended for us, because our best life is only lived when we release our best to God. To be who God has intended me to be I have given him all of me.


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