throwing out the routines

A Discussion about Fasting

14 One day the disciples of John the Baptist came to Jesus and asked him, "Why don't your disciples fasts like we do and the Pharisees do?" 15 Jesus replied, "Do wedding guests mourn while celebrating with the groom? Of course not. But someday the groom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast. 16 "Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before. 17 "And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the old skins would burst from the pressure, spilling the wine and ruining the skins. New wine is stored in new wineskins so that both are preserved."

matthew 9

ok, i admit i had to look up some outside sources to help me understand this passage! but here it is! when we take everything into context here, Jesus is talking about, not how the moral laws would be abolished, but the ceremonies of the old covenant would be done away with because Jesus would soon fulfill them. the new way of living after Jesus takes the punishment for our sins and ultimately setting us right with God is going to be different from the old way of living for God. before, they had to do all these rituals and ceremonies to be made right with God, basically being obedient to the law. but the whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was so that we wouldn't have to do all these things that were impossible to do in the first place and He would fulfill those rituals and ceremonies once and for all!

the new way of living for God now is by simply letting Jesus into our hearts and letting Him change us from the inside out. oh snap!! so here's the question! what "rituals" or "ceremonies" do you feel you have to take part of or simply "do" to make yourself right with God? is it a prayer that you pray every time you mess up? is it doing something for someone else so that you feel you made up for whatever you did wrong?? we have to remember that we can't make ourselves right with God by these rituals or ceremonies. it's all by grace. you're forgiven when you just simply and genuinely want forgiveness. i think a lot of us trick ourselves into thinking that we have to follow little guidelines for ourselves to be the "good" christian. and sometimes we measure others to OUR standards. whether it's not cursing or giving money to the homeless because we think that it'll earn us some points with God. and honestly, we end up just making up new rituals and laws for ourselves and others as we forget about the grace of God! remember, it's not the things that you set out to DO, but it's a slow and sometimes frustrating process of learning how to simply BE.