Refiner’s Fire . . .

One of the lessons of our scripture is the lack of understanding by those who are supposed to know about the nature of God. Jesus constantly had to remind people of the nature of God because they weren’t getting it at the temple. Strangely enough, people practice faith rituals but fail to know the God of their ritual behavior. That means ritual behavior is empty of meaning.

A brief overview of our rituals as Christians include: the Lord’s Supper, Baptism, Ordination, Infant Dedication, Marriage, Funerals and Worship. If we come to each of these events seeking deeper relationships with God, it is a right state of the heart. It isn’t in the performance of these rituals that we pass off some ritual attendance requirement. Rather the deepening of our hearts in knowledge and relationship with God is what we experience. Wars have been fought in ancient times over how often rituals should be done when in truth, God would desire that we do them only when our hearts and souls are engaged in the pursuit of Him anyway.

Put God where he belongs, at the center of all your living and you can be sure He will inhabit your rituals along with every other part of your life.

Dr. Stanley Spence