Galatians 6:15. A changed heart.

Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything; what counts is a new creation.

It's not what laws you obey or what rituals that you follow that matter. Are you born again. It is just coincidence that I am studying John's gospel and Galatians at the same time. Yet they have the same theme. The old has gone the new has come. New wine at Cana. You must be born again to Nicodemus. A spring of water welling up to eternal life for the woman at the well. It is all referring to this new creation. We must live in the Spirit. We used to talk about asking Jesus into our hearts. Another generation spoke about practising the presence of Jesus. It is all the same, different words for the same thing. Do we have a Spiritual life?

We cling to ritual as a child clings to a comfort blanket. It may be our hymns or whether we sit of stand or the clothes we wear or our order of service or whether the minister weras a dog collar or a tie. I remember going into a Roman Catholic Cathedral with a friend. He crossed himself with Holy Water and genuflected towards the alter. I did teh same and he asked me why I had done it. I replied that I had copied him out of politeness. He told me that for me it didn't mean anything. That was true, but for him it really meant nothing either. It was a ritual which had psychological effect but no effectual effect. God would not have been watching. I do not desire your sacrifices or burnt offerings. It is a changed heart that God requires.