Going Through The Motions

Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. – Luke 11:42

This past weekend my family escaped the cold temperatures by going to the Holland Aquatic Center. While we were there, we helped Joy, our seven-year old, learn how to swim. She is coming along quite well. Sometimes she gets the hang of it and can move through the water fairly easy, but sometimes she flails her arms and legs and doesn’t seem to go anywhere.

In our spiritual life we can often feel like a person just learning to swim. Sometimes things are going well and we feel that we are growing and making progress in our spiritual walk. And yet, there are also times when we seem to just be going through the motions and we feel like we are treading water and not getting any closer to God. In today’s scripture, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees because they were just going through the motions. They weren’t making any progress in their spiritual life, because they lacked the passion and love of God in their lives.

Do you feel like you have come to a point in your spiritual life where you are just going through the motions? Then stop just treading water, instead jump in and fully immerse yourself in God’s love!

Prayer: Lord thank you for your love and passion for me. Forgive me when I fail to love you with the same passion. Forgive me when I tread water in my spiritual life and just go through the motions. I want to live my life for you! Amen.

Faith Tip: Watch this video of Matthew West’s song “The Motions” and let it challenge and inspire you to stop just going through the motions.



Written by Pastor Aaron Anderson