This is a topic I am so passionate about because it hits really close to my heart. I grew up in a religion-hinduism. I went through the motions, going to temple, worshiping gods, performing rituals because I was told to, but not truly understanding anything. Simply just obeying my parents, because when you are a child, that is what you do, and you want to do anything to please them, especially your father. I didn’t know why I was doing all these things because they were never explained to me, but I was just expected to do what I was told, because that is what they grew up doing, and their parents, and their parents. Generations of this, but no one truly understanding the reasons behind them are. I just checked boxes to continue a culture and religion from centuries of forefathers going ahead of me. When I started to get older, at the end of high school, I began to question everything. People started to ask me what religion I was, and simply when I started to say hindu, but then I questioned it, am I hindu? Or am I hindu just because my parents are or tell me I am?
We all should take the time to think about what we’ve been told, whether its parents, teachers, mentors, coaches, or anyone else that has had meaningful impact on our life. I believe when I was 17, God had started to draw me to Him through different circumstances, and gave me the insight to start looking for the “meaning” of life. I felt empty, confused, and hurt, and I knew my life had been missing something really important. When my sister came home from university and told me that she found God, I instantly knew that was what I was missing. I saw a transformation in her, like she left for college one way, but came back that spring break a completely new person. On my own, I began to ask God to reveal Himself to me. I spoke to Him, and He responded, something that hinduism never did. It was all books, guru’s and found in a building or temple. God would speak to my heart directly and speak to me personally, nothing like I had ever experienced before. He was personal, loving, kind and righteous, and the more I spent time with Him, the more I go to know His heart.
Thankfully I had something to check His voice, the bible. Although I didn’t know it too well, spending time with God and getting to know His character helped me to discern the voice which I would listen and talk to. I knew the basic scripture of John 10:10-The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full. The two main voices were God, who is author of life, and the devil, the author of death. It would be important for me to distinguish the two so that I didn’t get confused and more lost. Imagine a gps, and every time you put an address in, it takes you to a different destination than where you originally wanted to go. You would never get to the place you desired and would always be lost. In the same way, we need to follow the correct voice, so that we follow the path we are supposed to be and never get lost. Easier said than done, yes, it takes time, but relationship is key, because the more we know God as Father and who He truly is, it becomes easier. If a son gets lost in a crowd and gets scared, and he suddenly hears his father shout his name, an immediate peace falls over him and he follows the sound of his fathers voice until he finally hugs him. It is the same way with God, should we get lost and follow the wrong voice, we ask Him to help us find Him once again and get back on the correct path.
Religion is simply blindly following someone you don’t really believe in, go through the motions, check boxes, but you’re heart isn’t in it at all. It’s just doing something because it seems like the right thing to do. It’s thinking just being a good person is enough. God wants so much more and He intended us to be intimate with Him because out of relationship, everything else flows. We can’t put the act on forever and we need to be transformed, because without transformation (or metamorphosis), we stay the same person as we are our whole lives, but God intended us to have life, and have it to the full (John 10:10). We are called to be intimate, not religious. Let’s get to know His voice, character and word, so that we can grow and flourish, and then help bring others to the knowledge of His fragrance.