I have been going to the hospital a lot for medical tests and each time I go, I am asked what my religion is. I have stated matter-of-factly each time that I belong to the Assembly of God. Then, the registration clerk moves to the next question on her computer. What I really wanted to tell her was that I don’t have a religion. What I have is a relationship, a love affair with the God who created me and sent a Savior to save me from my sins.

I was created by God and I say I am His, so I am commanded to follow His example. What did Jesus do? He helped others. He healed others. He prayed for others. Mostly, He showed a lost world what His Father was like and that is what I am commanded to do. My most important task on earth is to show people what God is like by living an example before them. So, when I was waiting for hours for a test to conclude and ended up spending six hours at the hospital instead of the three that the test should have taken, I represented God by still being humble and pleasant and thanking the technicians and nurses for being so kind and helpful to me. My old self would have been exasperated and demanded that I be seen more quickly. Instead, I chose to be patient because that is what Jesus would do. Is there some way in which you have been called to show Jesus to others lately? My guess is that you are called daily to do so; it is just a matter of what choices you make in your life.

Since I am created by God, I am called to praise Him. Do you spend time daily praising God? Just worshipping Him for who He is and then thanking Him for all that He has done for you? I figure my life on earth is just practice for all of the praise and worship that I will be doing in Heaven, so I should do a good job. I remember many years ago I took piano lessons from a nice, elderly lady. I had to practice the piano daily and then go to her house once a week for a new lesson. Well, I was not a very nice child because one day I just told the lady that I wasn’t coming to lessons any more because she wasn’t really teaching me. That was absolutely true. She set the metronome, told me what to practice in my piano book and then she headed to the den to watch her soap opera. So, I didn’t feel that she was actually teaching me and I told her so. God isn’t like that. He doesn’t say to praise Him and then leave us to figure out how and when to do it. He tells us in His Word that there is a huge crowd in Heaven worshipping the Lord and one day we will be part of that crowd, so we need to practice our worship here on earth. Daily, I turn my TV to the Christian music channel and do my devotional, writing in my journal and praising the Lord as I do. How do you praise the Lord? Do you remember that each breath you have is a gift from Him? Each beat of your heart is His gift of life to you.

The point of my whole post today is just a reminder that you are created by a Wonderful Father, redeemed by a beautiful Savior, and all you can do is represent Him on earth and worship Him. That’s all. It all seems very simple. But, first, I suggest that you prepare your heart and then sit before Him, sing a few songs of praise and worship Him. He is worthy! God is the Lord of all the earth and I want to meet all of you one day in Heaven. There, we will praise together! What a glorious day that will be! Until then, be a good ambassador for Him on earth…show others His qualities so that they know that you are different and want the relationship that you have. Not the religion…the relationship!