Not a Recreational Religion: Part 3 — A ‘Time With God’ Audio Devotion

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“I hate, I despise your religious festivals;
your assemblies are a stench to me.
Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings,
I will not accept them.
Though you bring choice fellowship offerings,
I will have no regard for them.
Away with the noise of your songs!
I will not listen to the music of your harps.
But let justice roll on like a river,
righteousness like a never-failing stream!

Amos 5:21-24

Transcript

Good morning. Well, I hope your week’s going well. We’re talking all this week about the fact that Christianity and the Christian life is not a recreational religion. It’s not the kind of thing that you just do on the weekends or on Sunday or when you go to small group.

It’s not like the fridge magnet that you stick on your fridge that decorates it a bit but doesn’t really have anything to do with how the fridge operates.

No, God’s design for the Christian life and for your life is to put Him at the centre of your life, not just as a decoration, but to build your life around God’s plan for you, not just to ask God to bless your plans for you.

Really, when you learn to put God at the centre of everything, your whole life comes together. That’s when you experience the reality of God speaking into your life, of God guiding you, of God shaping your life, and God using you in the lives of the people around you.

If you’ve been living in a way that you’re just trying to make it through, just trying to survive and asking God for help, that’s so good because God loves to help you. But your life will come together in a much deeper way if you also come to God and say, as I’m going through these hard times, how do you want to use me in these times in a way you could not use me at any other time, because my life is for you, not your life God is for me, but my life is for you.

You know, Jesus really modelled this way of life as he lived here on earth, and as he came towards the end of his life, and he knew that the cross was coming, that he was going to face that terrible time, he really was wrestling with what that meant in his life, and the Bible describes a time in John chapter 12 in the New Testament of the Bible when some things were happening, but Jesus was just distracted by these thoughts about what was coming in his life.

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It says starting in verse 20 of John chapter 12:

Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast, one of the Jewish feasts where people worshipped God. These Greeks then came to Philip, that’s one of Jesus’ disciples, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus.

Well, Philip came and told Andrew, one of the other disciples, and Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them. He’s obviously distracted because he doesn’t even interact with the fact that these Greeks are wanting to see Him. Here’s what’s on his mind. Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Jesus is talking about Himself when he says the Son of Man. The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Of course it grows up and produces a lot more wheat, and Jesus is thinking of what’s coming in his own life that he’s facing.

This challenge, and he’s going to have to accept the cross as God’s plan for him and be like that grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies because that’s going to bear much fruit and that’s going to give his life meaning. He goes on to say he who loves his life loses it. And he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honour him.

And Jesus is saying, you too, in your life, recognise that you need to put God first, and some of the things God calls you to go through are going to be difficult and painful. But even those things you need to embrace and say, God, use me in this situation.

That’s when your life gains meaning and purpose, when God is at the centre of it and the way you evaluate the meaning of your life is in how you are fulfilling God’s purpose for you.

I’m John North.

To go deeper in your faith, visit AFCI.com.au.

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