In a post that was tagged to me, there was a picture of a
man that was suppose to represent Christ, and the caption read, "if you
love this man, thumbs up and share."
My comment was that I did not love the man in the picture
because it was not Christ.
These people wanted me to indulge in venerating a picture of
a man depicted as Jesus. The typical artists rendition of a man with long hair.
God expressly commanded us not to make images of God, and
when I said I did not love the man in the picture, because it was not Christ,
they became even more staunch in defending it.
I was amazed that people who wanted Jesus were satisfied
with this picture of a man who was not Christ, to represent Him. Who gave them
the authority to appoint a picture of a man and call it Christ?
Religion desires to look good from the outside, but neglects
the inner spiritual man. Why would
anyone be angry that I refused to bow to a picture of a man who is not
God? And not even a real man a picture
of a non-existent artist depiction.
The anger at my refusing to become indulgent in this idol
worship was a strong clue that the people involved were not looking for
holiness, but for objects to make them "feel" spiritual.
When someone camps regularly on ritual it is a clue they are
neglecting the inner man, after all, no ritual is necessary to bless the true
believer who seeks to be changed by God in the depth of his soul.
We need no holidays, no rituals and no outward displays of
spirituality to convince other. What
others think about us is of little consequence, it is what God thinks of us
that matters. And He looks upon the heart.
Proverbs 20:27 "The spirit of man is the lamp of the
LORD, Searching all the INNERMOST parts of his being."
Ephesians 3:16 "That he would grant you, according to
the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
INNER man"
Matthew 23:27-28 ""Woe to you, scribes and
Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside
appear beautiful, but INSIDE they are full of dead men's bones and all
uncleanness. "So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but INWARDLY
you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness."
2 Corinthians 4:16 "Therefore we do not lose heart, but
though our outer man is decaying, yet our INNER man is being renewed day by
day."
1 Samuel 16:7 "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do
not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have
rejected him; for God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward
appearance, but the LORD looks at the HEART."
The only observance outwardly that the Lord gave us was the
Lord's supper. And, churches now days
are neglecting that. The first century church mentioned in the Bible observed
that every time they came together. It
is the essence of Who Christ is and what He did.
Those who think they are spiritual by virtue of the rituals
they observe are missing the greatest mystery and blessing of all, and that is
Christ working in our INNER MOST being to make us more like Him.
Ephesians 3:16 "that He would grant you, according to
the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in
the inner man,"
Colossians 3:10 "and have put on the new self who is
being renewed to a true knowledge according to the image of the One who created
him--"
Do we want to be more holy?
If we do we will throw away all ritual except that which Christ gave
us.
