Day 2249 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


Matthew 22:37 NIV

Thinking about getting back to the childlike faith that we talked about yesterday. I really do believe that faith shouldn't be anywhere near as complicated as we make it. So how do we make it simple? Well, we go back to the basics. Strip away all the requirements. Toss out the desire to be perfect. Forget all about using faith to make us look good or feel better about ourselves. Take all that away and focus in on the very foundation of what our faith should be.

As we talk about quite often, it's a relationship. We've gotten all caught up in the religion side of things. Making sure we check all the boxes so that we meet expectations is sadly what faith is for many. It's nothing more than some exclusive club that meets once a week and talks about the Bible for an hour. It's mega churches and rock-star preachers. In short, Jesus paid for freedom but we built it into something far different!

It's a relationship between us and our Father. It's about love that is unconditionally given no matter how many man-made boxes we check. It's about mercy that covers all of our flaws and weaknesses. It's the chance at redemption for our souls from darkness into light. It's trading our past mistakes for His future promises. It's about breaking away from all the worldly stuff, religion included, and realizing that it's no different than any other parent and child connection.

So to make it simple, starting with what Christ calls us to do here in Matthew is a good place to begin. Love God. He loves us and we should live in such a way that shows how much we love Him in return. Give Him everything we have. Stop giving pieces of ourselves to all these other things. Stop giving our time to selfish pursuits and give it to the One that gave it to us. Stop letting the rules become our focus. Stop living like the world around us. Live for Him and let Him be our God, nothing else.

Like I've said a lot in these posts, it's a matter of our priorities and what we focus on. When we're giving little pieces of ourselves to a million different things then we're going to struggle to narrow in on what really matters the most. But when we give God everything and let Him take center stage in our lives then everything falls into place. So push everything else to the side and just focus on growing closer to your Father. When our relationship with Him is our main focus then I promise everything else will work out just as it should!

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