Religion vs. Relationship

Matthew 19:16-22 NIV
Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life ?” [17] “Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.” [18] “Which ones?” he inquired. Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, [19] honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’ ” [20] “All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?” [21] Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” [22] When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.

I was thinking this morning about how we so often try to boil down our faith and religion into a list of do(s) and don't(s), basically a list of prescribed religious activities. We tend to be task orientated, and just want to know what we should do. The problem for us is that in the Lord's eyes it is all about relationship. I think the focus of those verses is not so much the wealth of the ruler, but the invitation that Jesus gave the man to come and follow Him, in other words to come and be in relationship with Jesus.

I often read through these verses and immediately think about the stuff I would need to sell, etc., and the real point is that the invitation is to be in relationship. Relationships, even with the Lord, take time and communication. Relationships are not about things we can do, lists we can check, etc. Relationships require heart to heart communication, time to just be, learning how one another thinks, acts, and feels. You can't get that in any great depth through just working down a list of things. Relationships require heart engagement.

Lord, help us to leave behind our lists and our do(s) and don't(s), our religious activity, and help us to enter fully into relationship with You.