Faith not rituals will lead me to the promised land
Lent is a forty-day religous observance that commences on Ash Wednesday and concludes on Holy Thursday. It is a time of prayer, fasting, and giving, designed to prepare for the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ at Easter. This and many other religious observances are taken with the utmost seriousness within the denominational church in which I was raised.
Despite the gravity with which these rituals were upheld within my church and family, I myself never accorded them the same level of importance. This was primarily due to the fact that I did not see any meaningful transformation in the lives of those around me who actively participated in them. As a result, I never felt sufficiently motivated to partake in them myself. Moreover, I did not have enough knowledge regarding their significance in my life, and I did not have the motivation to seek further clarification. However, when I embarked on my new journey within the Kingdom of God, I resolved to conduct thorough research into these religous rituals and explore their relevance to my spiritual journey.
The Old Testament contains numerous religious rituals that were given to the Israelites as a means of guiding them in their worship of God. These rituals were intended to reveal the sinful nature of humanity and the inefficacy of self-effort in achieving right standing with God. This is because religious rituals inherently rely on self effort.
The purpose of religious rituals was to direct attention towards faith in Christ as the preferred means through which God desires humanity to worship Him. Therefore, I have come to the conclusion that these rituals are not applicable to my personal journey of faith. Instead, I now place my unwavering faith in Jesus Christ as the foundation of my relationship with God, rather than relying on religious rituals or self-effort to reach the promised land.
