Psalm 68:35 has this to say:

“O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.”

It was actually surprising to read this verse, because it just doesn’t sound like something the Bible would say.

It serves as a fresh reminder to me that God is not religion. God is not church, God is not daily Bible reading, God is not youth group, God is not Bible college. All of these things are avenues to God, but they are not in and of themselves God. God is more awesome than His holy places, and the second we forget that and start elevating “His holy places” above Him, we are missing God.

If I go to church every Sunday (thinking that this is what I do as a Christian), and do not grow closer to God because of it, I am missing the point of it all. The point of “doing Christian things” (God’s “holy places”) is not to satisfy our membership requirements for Christianity.

Always remember that God is more awesome than His holy places. The holy places do not — MUST not replace God himself. Christianity is alive, it is real, it is dynamic, and it is not a bunch of rituals.