R and R...

Two sermons ago my pastor gave a sermon titled, 'The Spirit, Relationship and Ritual'. It was an excellent look at the differences between empty ritual and true relationship with Jesus in the Christian life. The passage we looked at was in Acts chapter eight, the account of Simon the Magician. The main thrust of the sermon was; 'Ritual without relationship is empty magic, but ritual with relationship is where real life transformation occurs.'

I liked this sermon and it impacted me while I listened to it, but as I left the service, so did the sermon from my mind. Until a couple of days ago, when I was reading through my journal and came across a couple of things which I had jotted down. Here they are:

"Don't feel your way to action. Act your way to a feeling." - Pastor Justin Buzzard

"Don't idly read God's Word hoping it will magically impact!" - Me

When I read these two statements I was immediately reminded by the Holy Spirit of the sermon on Ritual vs. Relationship. And the thought entered my head, 'What in my claimed relationship with God is really just empty ritual?' 

I know in my life there are things which immediately come to mind, where I'm simply going through the motions, but am also not trying to go any deeper with them. They're just empty rituals. Like Simon, they are just magic tricks, for appearance sake.

I find this is true for many areas of my life. And lately God has been showing me just how true this is of me when I read His Word. His Word is effective and will not return void. But I haven't been doing anything to give it more than passing opportunity to impact me. 

Conviction hurts. I'm finding it also motivates though. I remember one of my teachers in Bible school saying "In the Christian's life, sin serves to point us back to God." It reminds us of our helplessness, and points us to Christ and what He has done. Thank You Jesus for that! And so as the Holy Spirit has illuminated areas for growth, I'm seeking to 'act my way' towards the feeling. Instead of hoping for 'magical impact'.

How about you? 

Are there areas in your life where you've slipped into empty ritual? Mere magic?

How can you move beyond the empty ritual, into full relationship induced ritual and real life transformation?