Psalm 135

Themes for our worship:
God's goodness (v. 3), His electing love (v. 4), His greatness (vv. 5-7), His judgments (vv. 8-12), His unchanging character (v. 13), and His love towards His people (v. 14).

Verse 5...  
For I know that the LORD is great, and that our Lord is above all gods.  

On Sunday, I was talking to a friend at church about how our postmodern society equates those who hold to absolute truth with intolerant bigots. I have a student who claims to be Wiccan but told me that her coven promotes inclusion of elements from other religions. Basically, whatever you want to incorporate is fine (some Shinto ritual purification, a bit of Zen Buddhist meditation, a sprinkle of Hindu karma, a few moral teachings of Christianity, etc.). But true religion is not a smorgasboard from which anyone and everyone can select items at will!!

True, all human "religions" have some sort of common ground. The lowest common denominator is something like "In order to gain ______ [happiness, or acceptance in God's eyes, or fulfillment, or eternity, etc.], you must do ______ [various actions and standards like good works, loving others, etc.]." But that's why I can't put any trust in man-made religions, because in reality I know that in my own strength I can never do enough, or be enough, or have sufficient assurance that "my way" or anyone else's is correct. I don't think I could live with that kind of ambiguity! Thankfully the Bible is not merely one religious group's set of laws, but it is God's revelation to humankind regarding who He is and who we are in relation to Him. "We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him [Jesus Christ] the iniquity of us all." Thus it's not really about choosing a religion, but about a necessity for a relationship with that perfect Mediator between us and God. I am so thankful that I have that assurance, a hope grounded in Christ my Savior, the only perfect Man, the Son of God, who died to cleanse me from the stain of sin and free me from the power of sin.