“Perhaps religion is what we make of it.”
Religion should not be “what we make of it,” but rather what it is and is not.
Deu_11:13 And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God, and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul,
If He commands this level of zealousness, how can you say that religion is what you “make of it?” Our search, therefore, should be for what God has commanded, and to reject what He has not commanded, not leaning on our own works, but instead leaning on the God who works both to will and to do righteousness with the heart that He himself gives to us:
Isa_26:12 LORD, thou wilt ordain peace for us: for thou also hast wrought all our works in us.
Psa_73:26 My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.
Eze_36:26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh.
This is a radical dependence of God for all things, and not on ourselves.
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