What's Missing?

I have seen a lot of religious fervor over the years and yet so much of it is so un-appealing to the average Joe. I have ask myself many times, What's missing? There appears to be a distinct separation between what is quote "religious" and everyday life. That makes religion very abnormal to most people and it should be. Doesn't institutional religion seem a bit off base when you consider that God is the author of man's life? I have come to this conclusion in my heart, the Lord is not interested in our religion. God is Holy for sure but men are religious by nature. Men push. God draws. Religion is what we peddle. Real life is what draws us closer to Him. We just don't get it for the most part. Many of us think that religious duties bring us closer to the Lord but I beg to differ. So what's missing?

I really think that we may be looking in all the wrong places to find God and to our dismay all we find is religion. How boring and discouraging is that? Where is God then? I can tell you this much. The Lord is found in the heart of man. The Bible says that Jesus is the light of man.

John: Chapter 1

In him was life; and the life was the light of men.

I am therefore ready to conclude that Jesus is the sustaining light of the human race and along with that He was the the only one holy enough to reconcile us to our rightful standing with the Father. Here's the deal though. Religion has made this process of reconciliation a lifetime process of religious duty and not a personal relationship with God's life giving Son. Religion can't get past the death and the resurrection and therefore religion is always making us pay for something already accomplished.

So what's missing? I really believe that most of us are in the dark because of religion and never experience a life style of daily walking with the Lord and with our brothers and sisters. It's awkward for most of us to share our life with Jesus to others because most of us don't know what a life with Jesus is really like. We are constantly trying to get people to go to a building on Sunday to find the answers to life and you know what? Jesus cannot be confined to that kind of a religious box. It is too confining and too formal and too rigid. The Lord is the center of man's life and not the center of man's religion.

If you talk to people enough and hear them out you will hear and see a lot of God's image in their heart. The real connection starts to come when we recognize that we are all a part of this wonderful creation and that God is the the giver of life and that He enjoys much of what we are and have done with the gifts and talents that He has given us. What's missing? Forget about religion. Acknowledge Him! Look at the many blessings that you live with right now. See him in your life. He gave you all that you have. Acknowledge this with others and soon His wonderful presence will surround you and in dwell you. He is a Father in waiting and not a relgious monument.