Dear Christian,
Should you go to church? Should you be in a bible study (or two or three)? Should you give money, or fast, or put the Jesus fish on your car? It depends. Are you going through the motions, doing it all for yourself?
In Zechariah 7, the prophet Zechariah is talking to God about Israel, wanting to know if a certain period of fasting should continue. God's response was as follows:
"Say to all the people of the land and the priests, When you fasted and mourned in the fifth month and in the seventh, for these seventy years, was it for me that you fasted? And when you eat and when you drink, do you not eat for yourselves and drink for yourselves?" -Zechariah 7:5-6, ESV
God ain't interested in us just doing stuff for our benefit. Sure, He wants us to find pleasure in Him. If the point, however, behind your prayers and church attendance and tithes is getting a warm and fuzzy feeling, a pat on the back or a check off on your cultural Churchianity checklist, then don't bother. Don't go through the motions just to benefit you; instead, your Christian walk should be God-focused.
When you pray, is God the center of your prayers? If not, make Him the center.
When you go to church, is it to truly worship the holy Lord of all, or is it to give you a "Jesus energy boost," like chugging an energy drink of religion to get you through the week?
We must keep our focus on Him, not on ourselves. He's Creator; we're creation. He's master; we're slaves.
As my friend Won Kwak posted on Twitter yesterday (as a quote from another person),
"To me, Christianity was more about being a good person and a means to seek comfort... I knew a lot about Jesus, but I didn't know Jesus."
We must know the Lord, not just know about Him in an effort to seek comfort. We must make the goal to know and praise Him. All of the comfort and behavior change will naturally flow out from that.
Sincerely,
A Self-centered, Wanting-to-know-God-more Disciple
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