The Lord has impressed on my heart a question that I would like to share. "Have I sacrificed a close personal relationship with Jesus for the sake of religion?" Ouch...I thought religion was related to Jesus. Actually religion stands in opposition to Jesus. Religion focuses on the outward appearance. It is all about keeping the rules and measuring up to the standards that we have set. Religion says that those who do not measure up to my standards must be chastised. In fact religion helps us justify our lives because we can always find someone that are not keeping the rules as good as we are. If you examine Jesus' life and ministry you will find that His biggest critics were those who were very religious. They saw Jesus as a threat to their religion, a threat to the status-quo. Religion has always been about keeping the rules and maintaining the traditions. Jesus is not concerned with the external, He is concerned about the condition of our heart. Jesus' goal for our lives has never been to help us to follow the rules and traditions it has always been transformation. Being religious does not guarantee our salvation or help us please God but a close personal relationship with Jesus Christ does both. Being religious does not make us a Christian anymore than sleeping in the garage will make us a car.