Mark 3:5

I want to talk about the Pharisees and how some of us Christians can live like the Pharisees of the New Testament. In my last blog post, I talked about what I was like as a mother a few years ago and how angry and bitter I was. Part of that anger and bitterness was due to the fact that I have PPMD (the severe PMS, sorry for the TMI, guys!) but A LOT of that anger and bitterness was because I was trying desperately to live according to the LAWS of God. For me, it's impossible to be a joyful Christian when I'm too busy failing at being a perfect Christian. Mark 3:5 tells us what Jesus thinks of religion that just focuses on following the rules...

"He looked them [the Pharisees] in the eye, one after another,
angry now, furious at their hard-nosed religion."
Mark 3:5 (The Message)

The Pharisees had just watched Jesus heal someone on the Sabbath. When he did heal the person with the crippled hand, the Pharisees left, sputtering. They were so focused on the LAW that they failed to see that Jesus had helped someone! Who cares if it was on the Sabbath!

Well, who cares about all these stupid things that religion says we have to do. Don't wear certain clothing. Don't watch certain TV shows. Don't listen to certain music. Don't do this. Don't do that. Because IF you do - you're destined to hell! And God forbid if you dye your hair or get your nose pierced! Woe to him (or her) who does these things!

I'm sorry, but Jesus hung out with the riffraff - in fact, the Message Bible says Jesus was "acting cozy with the riffraff" (Mark 2:16) No, this doesn't mean I can do whatever I want because I'm a Bible believing, baptized Christian so God's got me covered. But, it also doesn't mean I have to kill myself trying to live up to MAN'S standards!

Being a homeschooler, I used to attend homeschool conferences. Used to. For some reason, the homeschool world is filled with people who live legalistic lives and who try to shove those legalistic beliefs onto every other homeschool family out there. I nearly killed myself trying to live up to those standards. I'm not just being overdramatic here. I was suicidal because I was failing so miserably at being a good Christian! Good Christians don't question God! Good Christians don't feel angry! Good Christians are perfect mothers, perfect wives, perfect friends and they certainly never share about the struggles they're going through!

Let me put it this way... I was willing to end my life rather than face the truth that I needed a Savior. I was willing to make my husband a widower and leave my children motherless because I couldn't measure up to man's standards. I thank God for a wonderful Christian counselor who helped me see that the legalistic way of life is not the way for me. That God's grace covered all my failings. That ALL I needed to do was believe in Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior and everything else was just moot. I had to get back to the basic tenets of Christianity in order to be able to become the wife/mother/friend/daughter God created me to be. I needed a personal relationship with God that was based on what I believed, rather than what I did (or didn't do.) I needed a Savior who would meet me exactly where I was, accept me - flaws and all - and gently mold me into the child of God HE wanted me to be. I needed Jesus. The Jesus of the New Testament, not the Savior the Pharisees were expecting. But, the real deal. Son of God who became flesh, suffered and died for my sins so I could truly be set free. And that, my friends, is the exact type of Savior I have today!