Does God Dig Religion?

I have heard it said so many times that Christianity is not a religion but a relationship. And this would be a true statement. But I have found that God does dig religion; it's just not the kind the world delivers. The world's view of religion is inner focused, filled with rituals that attempt to purify oneself from sin and open the pathway to heaven forging the fires of hell. This type of religion is all about saving one’s skin! And it never works!

But the religion God digs is pure, faultless, and outer focused. What God desires in religion is "to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

Notice the difference. The former view is all about helping oneself in our own distress through self-abasing works and practices. It's about me, me, me! Conversely, the latter is outward – looking to those in need and reaching out to make a difference in the heart of a hurting soul.

Now, if we take a closer look at this verse in James 1:27, there is one part that is important when it comes to ourselves: “keeping oneself from being polluted by the world.”

Keeping oneself from being polluted is to stay clear of the bottomless pit that engulfs us to a place of complete despair. That despair can look enticing believe it or not; but once there, it wounds and it damages.

When I think of keeping myself from being polluted by the world, I stay away from things that will destroy my joy, such as selfishness, the desire for wealth and things, being arrogantly right instead of scripturally holy.

I have found it easier to keep myself from such destructive pits by running to Jesus vs. running from these things. The more I seek His face, His character, the less attractive these worldly things look. In fact, they look detestable, ugly, and repugnant.

Yet, while the second part of James 1:27 is about us, it is really about seeking Jesus. It still takes our focus off of ourselves and places it upward. The true way to accomplish this outward and upward focus is to implement James 4:7 in our lives,“ Submit therefore to God…after this submission it is a lot easier to …Resist the devil…the devil has no choice but to flee from you…because he sees Jesus in you and that is a horrifying sight for him, because when the devil sees Jesus, he sees all that he is not. He so wants to be God, but the mere glimpse of Jesus shows him what a complete failure he is. And when the devil looks at us and sees Jesus, we get to take part in making the devil feel like a LOSER! Amen?

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” James 1:27