Tag Archives: Obedience

Religious Syncretism

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We are living a religious syncretism

Syncretism is the blending of two or more religious belief systems into a new system, or the incorporation into a religious tradition of beliefs from unrelated traditions.

“Ah”, we say. “We would never do that!”

Oh, my friends we do this every time we bend the Word of God to suit ourselves.

The Bible says:

“Will a mere mortal rob God? Yet you rob me.”  “But you ask, ‘How are we robbing you?’ In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—your whole nation—because you are robbing me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that there will not be room enough to store it. (Malachi 3:8-10, NIV)

But we say: “Sorry, God, I don’t believe in tithing. I am poor. I don’t have enough for myself,

And thus, we syncretize the Word of God.

Or we read that God says:

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?  And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? (From Matthew 5:43-48, NIV)

And we say, “I will love those who I want to, I will determine by other means who to love and not to love. I am smarter than God.”

Forget the world-wide syncretism of religions and faiths. It starts locally right in our own home.

To be a Christian means to know, love and obey Jesus. Otherwise we are liars. The truth is not in us.

Serious Grief

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God’s Message came to me: “Son of man, I’m about to take from you the delight of your life—a real blow, I know. But, please, no tears. Keep your grief to yourself. No public mourning. Get dressed as usual and go about your work—none of the usual funeral rituals.”I preached to the people in the morning. That evening my wife died. The next morning I did as I’d been told. (Ezekiel 24:15-17, MSG)

And every time I read it, I ask myself these questions. Do I have that kind of obedience in me? Why/ why not? Why do I prolong my personal pain by neglecting God’s words to me?

And then I pray something like this.

Prayer – Lord God, Father of the entire universe, oh Lord God, help me to be as obedient as Ezekiel… because I want to serve you wholeheartedly, more than anything in the world. Help me to live that way, dear God.  For Christ, who did. Amen