Get In The Word – True Religion

This past Sunday’s sermon text came from Amos. Amos is a beautiful book about God’s man shouldering the burden of God’s people for the sake of awakening them to parched injustice in the land and calling their attention to the river of God’s justice. God’s river of justice and righteousness will roll without stopping, and this can either put people at great peril or in line for great promise, depending on where they stand with God (either stubbornly in the river’s path or humbly by the river’s bank). Amos is another short book in our Old Testament series, just 9 chapters, so you should definitely read it this week. Just a couple of chapters a day and you’ll have it. The daily devotional can help you go deeper.

In Amos, Israelites were constantly thinking of scheming for more money, which seeded their acts of injustice. They’d sit in church and long to be out cheating their way to riches. This seems jacked up until we remember that we sit in church and think about lunch, football or losing a few pounds. Tim Keller, pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, says that your true religion is where your mind goes when it’s free to wander. What a profound thought. When your mind has time to think, when there’s nothing pressing before you, what do you think about? Does it have anything to do with God, your Creator?

The point Keller is implying, and that I find so convicting, is that our minds should wander to God every time we have a moment to think. If our sin hadn’t shattered that divine relationship, God would flood our thoughts always; our ‘default’ mode of thinking would be dwelling on God’s greatness. But sin has shattered that relationship, so what are we to do?

First, we must realize that we need redemption on the deepest level possible. Our minds constantly drift from God and only the blood of Jesus can save us from the consequences of this rebellion (for it is rebellion). We should always be on the lookout for habits in ourselves that reinforce our need for Jesus – and this is a big one. Jesus died for the sin of our wandering minds and promises to one day fully restore our minds to center on God, and further promises to move us in that direction in this life.

Paul spoke to the ‘this life’ progress in 2 Corinthians 10:15 when he said we ‘take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.’ We get so wrapped up in thinking our thoughts that we forget to think about our thoughts. Why are we dwelling on this particular thing? How can we think about this thing in a way that honors God? It’s ok to think about your weight, it’s ok to think about your job. The question is, how can you think of your weight or your work as acts of worship to God?

I would suggest a good first step. Identify where your mind is prone to wander and pray about it. Ask God to make you aware of when your mind spirals down some rabbit hole. Also ask God to help you learn how the Scriptures can speak into your desires and shape them to match God’s desires for you. And tell a friend where your mind tends to wander and ask them to check in on you regularly and to help you figure out how to offer your desires to God with open hands. It will take some risk and vulnerability, and it will almost definitely take time and patience to truly grow, but it’s totally worth it.

At Sojourn, we are all about you getting in the Word - it’s God’s message for you, as you are, where you are. Right now we’re working through the Old Testament as a church body and it’s a big undertaking that can seem pretty intimidating. We want to assure you that nobody has to be a scholar to understand the Bible. God didn’t just speak to the brainiacs - he spoke to all of us. Still, a little help along the way is good. That’s why Sojourn has a daily Bible reading plan and devotional which can be found online here. For more on the daily devotional and how you can use it to help you get in the word, click here.