I realized something this week. I have become a checklist christian. Eww. I’ve been going through the motions. Singing the songs, but not letting them take me into the presence of God. Reading the Bible, but not letting it speak to my heart. Praying to the Lord, but not engaging in a conversation, never letting him speak back to me. Speaking about the amazing power of God and his Kingdom, but not actively pursuing Heaven on Earth.
But I’m doing enough to check them off the list. I AM singing the songs, check. I AM reading the Bible, check. I AM praying, check. You get the idea. I’m doing enough to be a “good Christian” and to check things off the “good Christian” list, as if one exists. Well, I’m just gonna say it, “to HELL with the check list! and to HELL with being a ‘good Christian’.” Go ahead. Say it. Scream it even. Don’t you feel better? I do.
Send the lies of Satan straight back to the pit of hell. The LIE that says you have to DO SOMETHING to earn God’s love and favor. The LIE that says if you read your Bible and pray everyday and never miss a church service that your life will be good and if it isn’t, then you must be doing something wrong. The truth is that NOTHING you do will make God love you any more than He does right now. The truth is also that NOTHING you do will make God love you any less than He does right now. He loves you. He loves you, not for anything you do or don’t do, but because of what Jesus DID.
“For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the EMPTY LIFE you inherited from your ancestors…it was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.” 1 Peter 1:18-19
“Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us IN CHRIST to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself THROUGH JESUS CHRIST. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.” Ephesians 1:4-5
So, let’s get rid of the checklists. Put away the judging journals. And let’s just be. Let’s just BE in the presence of God. Let Him speak to our hearts…through song, scripture, prayer, whatever. If this whole Jesus thing really is “relationship not religion” than why not treat it like any other relationship and drop the checklist and just spend genuine time with the Trinity. Let the love of Papa wash over you, let the power of Holy Spirit consume you, and let the intimacy of Jesus transform you.
