Acts 15:8-9 “God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.”

The importance of this moment in Church history cannot be overstated. The vast majority of religions in the world rely on rituals of various sorts, for a number of reasons. For one thing, we tend to like rituals, to be comfortable with them. They can give us a sense of security, of the familiar. In Christian churches, a majority of the rituals have solid, theological and Biblical backing, but every ritual has the risk of becoming rote, of becoming separated from the original meaning in the hearts and lives of those performing it. That’s why God denounced the sacrificial rituals prescribed by Moses when the people’s hearts were far from Him. (Isaiah 29:13, Jeremiah 12:2) Jesus Himself quoted Isaiah on that point. (Matthew 15:8-9) At this point in the Church, the question was whether faith or ritual would be given priority. Thankfully, faith won out! However, we have the constant temptation/tendency to slip back into going through the motions without a genuine, vital relationship with our living Lord. That’s how church leaders, even, can get involved in horrible sins, all the while keeping up a pious façade. Peter was the perfect person to resolve this issue, because his experience at the house of Cornelius, recorded in Acts 10, could not have been more clear or definitive. After all, all those in the conference recorded here knew full well that the baptism in the Holy Spirit was not something they could fake, but had to be done by God. Acts 10 tells us that Peter and the believers with him were shocked when God poured His Spirit out on the Gentiles who were listening to them! The question for Christians today becomes the place and use of rituals in our own lives. Rituals are in a sense habitual, and “holy habits” can be very good indeed. However, we must be careful not to substitute the ritual for the substance, and certainly not force the ritual as such on others, though we might recommend it. Rituals cannot make us right with God!

This is something I’ve wrestled with off and on throughout my life. I grew up in a distinctly non-liturgical church, but various things still became rituals, even to the way the offering was taken every Sunday. Today, I have various “holy habits” that I value highly, but I realize I always have the tendency to go through the motions, without my heart being in it, which removes the benefit almost entirely. My day does not begin without my taking time to read the Bible and listen for what God is saying to me, just as I am doing right now, but I realize that I could well be thrown into situations where my current pattern would be impossible. However, I can still get quiet before God and listen to Him, whatever is going on around me. Just this morning, the devil was throwing all sorts of distractions into my mind, and I had to choose to focus on God and His Word. If I will do that consistently, rituals will not be a snare to me.

Father, thank You for this reminder. You know how strongly I desire that every believer in this church develop the “holy habit” of daily devotions. Show me how to encourage it without making it, or seeming to make it, a condition for membership or even salvation. May all our rituals be led by and filled with Your Spirit, fulfilling the purposes You have for them, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!