“And he did not many mighty works there

because of their unbelief.”

Matthew 13:58

Religion was never created to free anyone. It was created for the sole purpose of quenching the power of God in your life and keeping people in bondage to religious spirits. That is why Jesus could not perform many miracles when He was in His hometown of Nazareth. The religious-tradition-bound mentality of His homeland had caused His people to be skeptical, critical, and judgmental when the day of their visitation by the Messiah was at hand. Instead of welcoming Jesus in faith, they rejected him in unbelief.

The consequences of those who practice their religious tradition instead of receiving the grace of God by faith are evident when Jesus rebuked the Pharisees. He said to them that they have made the power of God of no effect through their traditional beliefs of how God should be approached. They thought that you had to slay a bunch of goats and sheep and that you had to consecrate yourself for days before presenting yourself to God, let alone talking to Him. And when Jesus came along, professing that He is the living Son of God and the way, the truth, and the life, and that no man can come to the Father but by Him, their religious walls came up, and their hearts denied Him. Ultimately, these religious leaders focused their intentions on crucifying Jesus on the cross. That is exactly what they had done.

Jesus never intended for anyone to practice religion. He wanted us to be set free from it because He knows that practicing religion only leads to one thing, and that is death to the practitioner. Instead, He exhorts us to beware of religion, and to do that, we must realize that our relationship with the living God is based solely on our faith in what Jesus had already done for us at Calvary. Jesus came to deliver and save us from religion so we can take dominion over religious principalities and powers that try to keep us bound in the traditions and the fear of men. So if you have been practicing the do’s and don’ts of religion just to keep yourself holy and everybody else happy, you need to quit and repent. Instead, you need to receive the grace and salvation of God in faith through the finished work of His Son, Jesus Christ, and be free today!

 Scripture Reading: Matthew 13:53-58

This Devotional is from:

“Live The New You – 365 Days Devotional in Living the Real You”