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Over my last few devotionals I am going to be pulling from student publications that I wrote for the seminary during the winter term earlier this year.\xa0 Some bits have been changed or updated, but otherwise you\u2019re reading what the body of Calvin Seminary read a few months ago.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Galations 2:20)

I am not religious.\xa0 It seems like a strange statement for a Christian to say perhaps, but I realized long ago that there are key differences between Christianity and religion.\xa0 Religion is a set of observances, statutes, ways that must be followed in order to obtain new life either in this life or in the next (whatever that means according to one\u2019s personal beliefs).\xa0 Religion involves adherence to a personal code of ethics and morals in order to appease God (or a god), often hoping that you have done enough, prayed the right words, shared your faith with enough people, performed the right rituals in the right way.\xa0 Religion can be subjective and it often involves the fear of not measuring up to God\u2019s standards in some way, shape or form and what the consequences are to the individual as a result.\xa0 Christianity is different.\xa0 Christianity is about a living, loving God who first reached out to us, not to force us into His presence, but to enfold us in it.\xa0 God is altogether incomprehensible and yet still knowable. He draws us to Himself and calls us into an intimate, abiding relationship rooted in His Love.\xa0 This is a distinct difference between religion and Christianity.\xa0 Relationship in love.\xa0\xa0

If I were to ask you what your relationship with Jesus is like, how would you answer?\xa0 \u201cI pray\u201d you may say, or \u201cI meditate on the Word of God\u201d or \u201cI worship Him on Sundays.\u201d\xa0 These are all really good and really important things and we need to be doing each one of them both individually and corporately.\xa0 But I wonder if we can dig further into the meaning of relationship itself?\xa0 When I looked up the definition of the word \u201crelationship,\u201d Mirriam-Webster offered the word \u201ckinship\u201d and Google dictionary talked about a connection by blood.\xa0 I love these looks at relationship when it comes to Christ.\xa0 We are all brothers and sisters in Christ in this large family of believers through the blood of Christ.\xa0

\u201cBut now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ.\u201d (Eph 2:13).\xa0\xa0

Relationship. Kin. Blood.\xa0\xa0

\u201cSo, my brothers and sisters, you also died to the law through the body of Christ, that you might belong to another, to him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God\u201d (Rom 7:4).\xa0\xa0

Christianity is about belonging.\xa0 Belonging to Christ so that we might bear fruit for God.\xa0 Belonging to Christ isn\u2019t a feel-good pre-requisite for the good life in His company.\xa0 When we belong to someone we become a part of them and they of us.\xa0 So it is with Christ, we cannot grow or shrink back in belonging.\xa0 We are the beloved of God, we are no more or less than that.\xa0 And as His beloved, we are to bear fruit for God.\xa0 We don\u2019t bear fruit in order to measure up to a standard or as a pre-requisite to entering into heaven, but because we love God and a tangible way to show our love for him is by bearing fruit, doing good works, building others up, taking care of the temple of our own body.

Christianity is not about adherence to the law.\xa0 Jesus came to fulfill the law.\xa0 Christianity is about a relationship of belonging with God who loved us so much that He took our place unto death, out of pure love.\xa0 Jesus wasn\u2019t coerced, His Father didn\u2019t force Him to walk the road to Calvary, or talk Him into it, or reason with Him.\xa0 The relationship of Jesus and His Father was so personal and so intimate that Jesus willingly stepped forward into suffering because he knew and set His eyes on the ultimate goal.\xa0 Why? Because of His love for us.\xa0 His beloved.\xa0 Because He knew that it was the only way for intimacy like that which He has with His Father to be available to us too.\xa0 Relationship in love.

\u201cI haven\u2019t always been a Christian.\xa0 I didn\u2019t go to religion to make me happy.\xa0 I always knew a bottle of Port would do that.\xa0 If you want a religion to make you feel really comfortable, I certainly don\u2019t recommend Christianity.\u201d

This quote by C.S. Lewis is stirring, timeless and full of truth.\xa0 On the surface it sounds like a quote about happiness and comfort in life and faith, but take a look deeper and you will find relationship and love hidden beneath the words.\xa0 You see, relationships aren\u2019t comfortable.\xa0 They\u2019re not always happy...even the good ones.\xa0 They\u2019re messy, topsy-turvy, loving one minute and despising the next some days.\xa0 Relationships take time, take grit and take devotion to each other.\xa0 Relationships rooted in love, even more so.\xa0 It\u2019s easy to follow a religion, but less so to maintain a vibrant relationship with the living God, with Christ.\xa0 God is not in the business of cushioning, coddling and entering us into the comfortable and the good places of life.\xa0 If you want comfort, grab a seat in a recliner and lean back.\xa0 Or grab hold of religion.\xa0 Where the rules are all laid out for you and all you need to do is follow.\xa0 No, God is in the business of loving, redeeming, purifying and regenerating us.\xa0 Although God Himself never changes, He takes our lives and if we are willing, He will change, transform and conform us more and more into His own image.\xa0 It\u2019s not always a comfortable place to be.\xa0\xa0