Religion or Spirituality?

I don't claim to be a very deep person, but an email in my inbox got me thinking. Do I have religion or spirituality?

http://www.dictionary.com/ defines religion as "a specific, fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects." The same site defines spiritual as "of or pertaining to the spirit or soul, as distinguished from the phsical nature."

So which am I, religious or spiritual? Do I adhere to a set of beliefs just because that's how I was raised? Or do I have a deeper, more personal relationship with the Holy Spirit?

Most days I'd have to say I'm guilty of being religious, not that that's necessarily a bad thing. But when you compare that to being in tune with the Holy Spirit who was left here on Earth to guide our thoughts and hearts, that is a really bad thing. Why would I want to live my life by a set of rules if there's no meaning to them? Why would I set myself up as an example if all I'm doing is blindly following someone else's idea of what's right and wrong? Shouldn't I want to be following THE EXAMPLE? Shouldn't I strive daily to be more like Christ and less like the rest of the human race, religious or not?

I'm not one for New Year's Resolutions. (I love Carolyn Arends song "Every Day is New Year's Day.") But I am one for changing things in my life that just don't make sense any more. I'm not abandoning my upbringing. I'm not turning my back on religion or church or Bible study. What I hope to turn my back on, however, is the constant nagging feeling I have in the back of my mind that I have to do things to please PEOPLE. I need to worry about pleasing GOD, the Creator of everything. Instead of trying to prove that I love Jesus by forwarding emails of pictures of Jesus or touching stories of miracles and answered prayers I need to prove my LOVE for Him by LIVING for Him. I'm not perfect. I'm 100% positive I will fail daily, sometimes in a small way, others in gigantic, glaring ways. However, the best way to show people how I feel about Christ and what He's done for me is to live for Him daily.

There's an old adage that says, "You may be the only Bible some people ever read." In our day and time, that is more and more true. I hope to be as powerful a testimony as I can possibly be by living each day as I honestly feel Christ would have me live it.

I don't know if any of this makes any sense to any of you. I do know that I want to change how I think about my relationship with Christ. It shouldn't be something I think about once a week when it's time for church or time to pray for dinner. My relationship with Christ should be my first thought in the morning, an ever-present thought throughout the day, and the last thought before I close my eyes at night. All-consuming. That's what HE should be in my life.