Thursday 25 Mar 2021

March 25: Hebrews 10:1-4
 
Key Verse: Hebrews 10:3
But those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins.
 
Devotion:
Have you ever wondered why we do the things we do in our churches? Most of the things we do, we do because it is traditional or habitual to do so. The church and religious organisations have imposed many things onto us and you may object to some... so why do we do them?
 
I have been to quite a few places of worship where I have wondered where they have got the idea for doing what they do and almost always get the answer of something like “they have always done it this way.”  Let’s face it, people do not like change because they become comfortable in the habitual ways because they know what is coming and they can cope with that better than the unknown.
 
When God was preparing for Jesus to come and be amongst us, it was not going to be the same old thing – it was going to be something entirely new and unheard of. People were going to be upset and object and all sorts of things – just because it was different. God imposed strict ways on the Israelites so they would get used to the idea of living their lives for God instead of for themselves. Over time, they grew comfortable with the way things were and imposed stricter laws to prevent people from rocking the boat.
 
This is not what God was interested in. He wanted people to focus on Him and not on habits or traditions. He wanted to free the people from their own entrapment! We get trapped in the ways we invent – we become obsessed with those ways and we lose focus on what is real – on whom we should be worshipping. There is nothing new here because mankind has done this over and over again throughout history! But it is not God’s ways – they may well be ways in which we can remember God or draw closer to Him, so some of them we look at as being good or even righteous. But God is doing new things...
 
Points to Ponder:
Do you like traditional church?
 
Will you embrace what God asks of you instead of what tradition asks of you?