| Photo by Rineshkumar Ghirao on Unsplash
Our theme for 2025 as a church has been “ALL IN!” Am I living “All In” for Jesus?
Mark 7:1-23; the religious people came to Jesus because the disciples, followers of Jesus, were not obeying all the rules and rituals of church tradition. They were not washing properly; they were eating without following the correct methods required by the religious rules of the day.
Jesus replies to them by quoting from the Book of Isaiah. Jesus read, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.”
Jesus says, “You have let go of the commands of God and are holding on to human traditions.”
What are we holding on to, Jesus or the religious rules? The Word of God or the rituals? The Holy Spirit or our feelings?
Lord, help me to be “ALL IN” with following Jesus!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Pastor Ronald Squibb has been the International Christian Center (ICC) Lead Senior Pastor at Staten Island, New York, since 2011. He draws on many experiences from his over 40 years as a pastor and from significant emotional experiences.
His new book, Following the Journey with Jesus, which he co-authored with Daniel McNaughton, was recently published and is receiving rave reviews. His daily devotional appears in this publication.
