Religious and a relationship

Posted on by Dave

When I first became a Christian there was a saying, “I am not religious, I have a relationship with Jesus”. It was meant to show that I do not just perform religious duties, but actually walk with Jesus like in the image above.

I have said this many times to people over the years. My heart was to show people there was more to my faith than just fulfilling “religious” duties, it was about being in relationship with Jesus.

The further I go on this journey of life I realise that being religious and being in relationship are both as important as each other. While we can do one without the other, it is best when we do both.

If we look up the definition of being religious in the dictionary it describes it as three things…

  1. relating to or manifesting faithful devotion to an acknowledged ultimate reality or deity
  2. of, relating to, or devoted to religious beliefs or observances
  3. scrupulously and conscientiously faithful

When I think of the three things above, I want to be all three of them. I want to be faithfully devoted to my God, faithfully devoted to my beliefs, and conscientiously faithful.

The same goes for being in relationship with Jesus. Let us see the definition of the word relationship…

  1. the state of being related or interrelated
  2. a romantic or passionate attachment
  3. the relation connecting or binding participants in a relationship: such as kinship

It is the same again. I want to be in a passionate relationship with Jesus, I want to be interrelated with God as His child, and I want to be bound to Him.

I want to be religious in my devotion to God. I want to do the things that make my connection strong, things like praying, reading the Bible, serving others, and spending time with people who share my faith.

These “religious” things also help me to walk closely with Jesus. It makes and keeps my relationship strong and growing. It keeps my roots firmly planted in Him.

Reflection verses

Colossians 2:6-7 NLT
[6] And now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him. [7] Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.