Mark 1:4 (NASB)
4 John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.

John 3:3 (NASB)
3 Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.”

John 3:10 (NASB)
10 Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel and do not understand these things?

Ezekiel 11:19-20 (NASB)
19 “And I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. And I will take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh,
20 that they may walk in My statutes and keep My ordinances and do them. Then they will be My people, and I shall be their God.

How often do I focus on what I want, rather than what God is offering? How often do I let religion get in the way of my worship?

It was the same when Jesus lived on earth with us. The average Jew that flocked to John the Baptist for a baptism of repentance was only doing this because they thought that if they repented, God would answer their prayers and remove the Roman oppression. John the Baptist knew that he was only paving the way for the Messiah, but the Jews were willing to settle for so much less.

In the Gospel of John, the Pharisee Nicodemus was so absorbed with his religion, that he couldn’t see and wouldn’t accept the free gift of salvation from Jesus. As a teacher, Nicodemus would have known about the prophesizes of Ezekiel, but the Pharisees had replaced the message from God with their rules and regulations.

The ceremony, ritual and performance in many churches overshadows and robs the worship in Spirit and Truth that God desires from us. We settle for the personal emotional experience, become very good at being religious, but spend little time in worship.

Jesus wants my repentance, but He also wants me to believe and follow only Him. When I do that my prayers are no longer about me, but about Him. C.H. Spurgeon said it well in this quote, “I have concentrated my prayers into one, and that one prayer is this; that I may die to self, and live wholly to Him.”

Father, I pray that You would increase and I would decrease. Help me to worship You in Spirit and in Truth.  Amen.

Always praying for the glory of God,