Last week my wife was 3,000 miles away to attend a professional conference at which she was presenting. We really don’t like to be apart so that week was trying for both of us. After she had been gone several days and I settled into my altered routine, I had a chance to reflect on married life when you’re flying solo. It’s a little weird. It’s not like bachelor life, that’s for sure. There are still expectations and responsibilities that come with being married, even if your spouse is not around each moment to notice your effort, or lack thereof.

I still did grocery shopping and got what I was supposed to. I still cleaned the house and did the laundry and the dishes. I didn’t go out with friends and both ogle and discuss the merits of girls we might have come across. I still lived as a husband even if my wife was not around. That doesn’t exactly make me special. It’s what you’re supposed to do. But it led me to think about the Christian life and the whole conversation about religion versus relationship.

A relationship comes with responsibilities. The more serious, or special, or committed the relationship, the greater the responsibilities. I think that “religion” could be understood as the whole of our responsibilities in light of our “relationship” with God. Religion may be done joyfully, or lazily, or even begrudgingly at times. But it’s still important that we follow through on our commitments even when we don’t necessarily feel like it.

I take out the trash whether I feel like it or not. In fact, I usually don’t feel like it. Shocking. But it is a duty that I’ve accepted in light of making a life and a home with my wife. You could say that I take out the trash religiously.

I don’t read my Bible religiously. I’m not proud of that. I should study God’s Word with regularity whether I feel a desire to in the moment or not. For all the talk about religion being empty, or shallow, or even wrong, there are some things that should be done religiously. Religion is not what brings salvation, but it is a response to our relationship with the God Who does bring salvation.

*Incidentally, thinking over this post has given me a new book idea, The Religion of Marriage. Need to explore that.

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