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Read: Mark 2:23-28 
Listen: Mark 2

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them. But the time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them, and on that day they will fast.” Mark 2:19-20

It is early in Jesus’s ministry. The Pharisees are trying to figure out who Jesus is and what he is about. All they see is that he heals people and claims authority that belongs only to God. As the religious authorities of the day, they want to figure out what is going on. So, they go after him for not keeping their rules. As he answers their questions, Jesus uses an illustration of a bridegroom. He is telling them that the kingdom of heaven is here. Instead of mourning and fasting, they should be feasting and celebrating! What they were longing for arrived in him. But the Pharisees do not see it. They completely miss who Jesus is and the relationship he offers.

We, too, can miss the relationship Jesus offers and emphasize ritual instead. We attend weekend services but do not seek the presence of Christ. We show up and sing the songs, but our minds are elsewhere. We listen to the sermons but never ask the Spirit to change us. Songs are sung, sermons are preached, but the Bridegroom is absent from our hearts. When we take Jesus seriously, he gives us a new relationship with him that changes us from the inside out. A relationship that is more than ritual.

TODAY: Pray and confess how you have fallen into ritual without heart. Ask God to help you follow him more closely.