How to be Religious

Humility needs to be your best friend if you want to do religion right. If you think the things you do should be seen by other people, your religion is for show. It is this that kept the pharisees from receiving Jesus. The stakes are high. We are driven by a passion to have people notice what we do. It is clear why we are called the selfie generation. This is tied to a deep down attitude that opposes the gospel. God gets to decided who receives eternal life and in what capacity they will serve. There will not be a single person in heaven who thinks he deserves it. So if you think you deserve it, you are flattering yourself into a false assurance. Your pride is damning you. But the scary thing is that if feels so normal! God is doing so many things for you to make you humble. Being humble might feel like losing, but being humble is being what God loves! That is more valuable than anything in this world. Faith in God's promises is another facet of true religion. True faith looks into eternity, while faithless religion only sees now. If your decisions are based upon this life, you are well on your way to becoming a pharisee. Living for something you can't see now, for what only God can give you in the world to come, is faith. How many of the small decisions you make every day can only be explained by the fact that you believe in coming glory? The place where you deliberately store your treasures is where your heart will be. Praying when no-one sees. Fasting without anyone knowing. There is no privilege in this life greater that true religion. but it is also dangerous. You can destroy yourself by pride and temporal faith.