Day 2073 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Hosea 6:6 NIV

We're all so used to thinking that we have to do everything by the book in order to earn something in life. We've been told so many times that if we check all the boxes and dot all the i's then we'll be able to earn what we're hoping to find. And I think that same idea has managed to creep into our faith as well. As a result it's so easy to get lost in the requirements that we think we need to meet.

But the fact is that God isn't looking for us to check all the right boxes. He doesn't expect us to do everything absolutely perfect all the time. He knows that we're prone to making mistakes and messing things up to the point that we need a miracle to find our way out. So to think that we can manage to earn His love or acceptance is only creating this impossible hurdle for us to climb over.

Faith is about more than our church attendance record. It's about more than our ability to memorize Scripture. It's bigger than making sure we say all the right things when we pray. It's bigger than our capacity to be perfect. Thankfully! Faith isn't about meeting all these requirements, it's about our hearts. In reality there is nothing that we can offer God. He doesn't need our sacrifices. He doesn't need our attention. Doesn't even need our love or acknowledgement. So we can't possibly earn His love.

Friends, keep it simple. Break through the walls of worldly requirements and religious expectations. God wants us to be good people. He wants us to be His people. He wants us to humbly submit our lives to His plans. He wants us to do the good things that He created us to do. It simply isn't as complicated as we've made it. We've taken this thing that was designed around a personal relationship and created this impossible task of earning something that we will never deserve.

It's time that we get back to the basics. Stop worrying about getting everything right, because it's never going to happen anyway. Being perfect or meeting all the expectations can not become our focus. If that's our goal then we will never measure up and will constantly feel hopeless. Our goal should be growing closer to God. When that's our focus then we've finally managed to break through religion to find a true connection to our Father!

Love God and love others. Know Him and make Him known. Do good to others and shine His light into a dim world. Put Him first and trust His plans no matter where they lead. It really is simple. We cannot earn His love but thankfully we don't need to. We already have it! So maybe our lives should be spent praising Him for that gift and helping others see that He loves them too!