True religion is life

TODAY'S READING: James 1:19-27
I believe there are a lot of people who think that religion equals going to church and performing some religious rituals. Religion to many is sitting through an often boring service to please God. Ask some people what religion is and they will probably give you a list of rules.
But James cuts through all the misconceptions and boils is down. Is his list all-inclusive? No. But interesting enough, James words reflect the character of words spoken by Jesus years earlier. Remember this? "'You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40)
What is true religion? It really comes down to taking the focus off of ourselves and placing it on God and other people. It is about life lived for the benefit of others, not ourselves.
If we could talk to James today, I would want to ask him if he thought about the words of Jesus when he wrote this passage. Was he dealing with fellow followers of the Christ who wanted to talk the talk, but not walk the walk?
Religion is about much more than knowing about God. Quoting Scripture is a nice hobby, but are we living Scripture? That is the challenge that James places before us. When we looking into the mirror of God's word, does it change us?Does it make us different people? Does it cause us to look more like Jesus?
I would guess that most of us wouldn't pick taking care of widows and orphans as the first thing on our list of things to do. And that reveals the fact that God has a lot of work to do in our lives. We need to continually be going back to the mirror and looking for imperfections that God can work on. But if we are really going to love our neighbor as ourselves, we must help care for those in need.
And what about refusing to let the world corrupt us? Isn't that really what "loving the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind" is all about? When we allow other things to begin to occupy God's place in our life we have allowed the corruption to begin.
True religion requires us to stop serving our own interests and instead seek out what is best for others. We don't have to look any further than Jesus to see this in action. He lived homeless during His years of ministry. He would seek those who were lost and hurting no matter what the cost. He shared His time with those who were rejected by most of society. And eventually He died on a cross for people who cried out "crucify Him" and even the ones who hammered in the nails. Now that is true religion.

shine!
Jason