READING: 2 Chronicles 19-20, 2 Kings 1, Psalm 20, Matthew 3
Our religious heritage won’t save us from our sins. Training—including training in matters of religion—won’t fix our separation from the Father, either. Religious positions and authority don’t guarantee salvation. Nor do religious words unaccompanied by turning from sin and turning to God.
The religious leaders in Jesus’ day, though, leaned on their history, lineage, and position as assurances of God’s blessing. They were, after all, God’s people – descendants of Abraham, the God-chosen father of the Jews. Surely God would accept them, they thought, and surely He would accept them above all others.
It was the clear-speaking prophet John the Baptist who challenged their thinking. He called them to repentance illustrated by a changed life, and he warned them of judgment to come. I suspect that many of us world affirm these thoughts (that is, that our religion can’t save us), but we pay too little attention to the call to repentance, faith, and godly living. We want eternal life without life change – and that’s not repentance.
PRAYER: “God, convict me when I’m leaning on my religion rather than leaning on You.”
TOMORROW’S READING: 2 Kings 2-3, Psalm 48, Matthew 4