Matthew 9:11     

“And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, ‘Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?’”

As mentioned previously, there are three groups of people in the Church. There are those who only marvel at God when they see His signs. Then there are those who arise from their old lives and choose to follow Jesus for who He is and not for what He’s done. Now, a third category are those who find meaning, security, and purpose in the legal codes of their religious systems. These people are very committed to God, but only according to the religious norms and practices that they know. They have boxed God into the revealed understanding they have of God, and they refuse to depart from that framework for any reason. These religionists can be very zealous for the name of God and will crucify anyone who dares rock the boat of their limited understanding. They see God only in the Laws and Letters, but cannot see Him move in the Spirit.

We must not be religionists. While on the one hand, we need to understand, obey and conform to the revealed precepts of God; we must be careful not to throw out everything that does not fall into our worldview of God. Because God is God, He can manifest Himself in surprising ways, and we must be willing to give God the liberty to express Himself as He chooses. Self-righteous religionists are too fixed in their ways to see or hear God outside their framework. And this is deadly to walking with God.

“Lord, I will live by Your revealed Word and Precepts, but I will also stay open to learn new things about You and about how You are working. May I ever remain teachable dear Lord, and may my paradigm of You be flexible enough to accept new operations of Your Spirit that may contradict my established paradigms. This I pray for, in Jesus name. Amen.”