Day 2169 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Hosea 6:6 NIV

This is one that I tend to think about quite often. And since it goes with what we've been talking about the last few days I figured we'd toss this one out there as well. Our world is all about the rules. If you do this, say that, check that box then you're doing right. If you miss something or don't get something just right then you're messed up and judged for being imperfect.

Here's the thing, we're all imperfect! None of us will ever be perfect. If we could attain perfection then Christ wouldn't have needed to die on that cross to set us free from the grip of sin. But He did because none of us are capable of coming anywhere close to being perfect. But what we seem to often forget is that the rules aren't the most important part. It's our relationship with God.

One of my favorite lines in music says, "You paid for freedom, but we built religion." He carried our sin and shame to the cross to eliminate that barrier between us and Him. He did it to bridge the gap that our mistakes had created. We took it upon ourselves from there to come up with all these rules that need to be followed going forward. And somewhere along the way the rules became the main focus for many.

When we're focused on getting all the rules covered and checking all the boxes that we're told will make us better people then we're missing the heart of His message. As this verse tells us, He wants us to be good people who love and care about those around us. He wants us to be merciful and kind. Those things mean more than man-made rules and requirements!

If we're more worried about following rules than caring about others then we've missed it. If we're thinking that we can earn our way into Heaven by doing all the right things and living according to every rule that we can then we're sadly mistaken. Again, none of us will ever be perfect so we need to toss this idea that we can earn His eternal promise. We need to focus instead on growing closer to Him through a relationship that's built on far more than rules.

Just don't miss the purpose. Don't overlook the heart of His calling. And that's to love the Lord with all of our heart, all of our soul, and all of our mind, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. That's the point. That's the bread and butter and my parents would say. Love God and love others. All of those rules will be taken care of if we follow those two. So don't get lost in all these other things, they will simply never matter as much as being kind to those around us and giving God everything we have!