This week’s sermon was Patches on Old Clothes. We talked about the scriptures from Matthew 9:16-17.
The background for the scripture? The disciples of John asked Jesus - Why do John’s disciples fast, but Jesus’ disciples did not?
Jesus answered with the following:
16 “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are saved.
Jesus had been asked by some of John's disciples about why Jesus’ disciples’ ways of worship and living under the law was different from their own. It was a new way to worship God, it was a new way called Grace. Grace comes from the Greek New Testament word charis, which means God's unmerited favor. It is kindness from God that we don't deserve. There is nothing we have done, nor can ever do to earn this favor. It is a gift from God.
Jesus had just completed a sermon that was not like anything they had heard before. He moved the legality of religion to a relationship through faith in God. In reality, most people prefer law over grace. The law gives you a check list of do’s and don’ts so it makes easy to know when you are meeting the requirements.
But God is not interested in religion, but in relationships.
God doesn’t want us to just use a checklist in our relationship with him; he wants us to be fully involved like we would be in a marriage or a relationship with our closest friends. God wants to hear and see us daily and know that we are depending on him. God wants a relationship from us that isn’t about just going to church on Sundays, or just giving our offerings and tithes. He wants us fully invested in him so that he can show us the love and care he has for us. God doesn’t want us to just use a checklist when it comes to our relationship with him. He wants our full devotion.
Throughout this week ask yourself - Are you spending time with God daily or are you checking him off your list of things to do? Are you in a full relationship with God like it's a marriage, or are you seeing him just once a week?