Religion or Relationship?

"And he said, Ye have taken away my gods which I made, and the priest, and ye are gone away: and what have I more?" Judges 18:24a

There is a sad account for us to read in Chapter 17 and 18 in the Book of Judges.  It begins with a man by the name of Micah who steals silver from his mother.  Not knowing that it was her son who had stolen her silver, the mother then curses the one who has stolen her silver. When Micah hears of the curse by his mother, and so that he would not fall under her curse, he confesses to his mother that he was the one who had taken it and restores it back to her.  Upon the return of her silver, she gives Micah a portion of that to make a graven image and a molten image, to set up in their house so that they could worship them.  And because in these days, there was no king in Israel, and every man did that which was right in their own eyes, Micah did as his mother asked. He even went above what his mother asked of him, and he made an ephod and a teraphim and consecrated his sons to become his priest.

Along comes a Levite.  Micah asks the man where he came from and where is he going, and when Micah learns that he was just looking for a place to sojourn, Micah invites this Levite into his home to be his priest. Micah gives this man a suit of apparel, provisions and a salary.  Once Micah sets up idols to worship, and consecrates a Levite to be his priest, he says to himself, "Now I know I that the LORD will do me good, seeing I have a Levite to my priest." Judges 17:13

That my friend, is how false religions and pagan practices begin.  Micah had no business setting up idols to worship, and he had no business consecrating a priest.  

We see the same thing in our world today:  Man made religion.

But religion is temporary and religion will leave you empty.

Micah's story continues in Judges 18.

The children of Dan go out and search the land and as they do so, they lodge in the house of Micah.  They ask the Levite if God is going to prosper the way they are going, and the priest, (who took no counsel of God) told the children of Dan what they wanted to hear.  (False religion will also tell you what you want to hear) Not only did they like what they heard from this Levite, but they liked what they saw in Micah's house, and when they left, they offered a higher position and a higher wage to this Levite, and they took Micah's carved image, the molten image, the ephod and teraphim.

When Micah sees what they have done, he and his neighbors run out to meet the children of Dan, and that is where we hear such tragic words from the mouth of Micah: "...and what have I more?"

You see, Micah did not have a Relationship with God, he erected a Religion.  Without his images and his earthly priest, he had nothing.

Religion is nothing more than a man-made imitation of what seems right.  God created us to worship, and he created us to worship Him. 

Man wants to fill that void with everything and anything but God.

What seems right in the eyes of man?  Works.

But a Relationship with Christ is GRACE. Ephesians 2:8-10

Religion is duty, repetitious prayers, beads, Creeds.

A Relationship with Christ is GRACE.

Religion is temporary.

A Relationship with Christ is eternal.

Micah was left with nothing.

In Christ we have everything!

Practiced Religion...

    or a Personal Relationship with Christ...

        The choice is yours...

            But that's just me!

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." Words of Jesus.  Matthew 6:19-21