Religion and Life

I get the distinct feeling that many people want the blessings and privileges that come with faith, but they desire few of the responsibilities of discipleship.

These folks want the Father close at hand, but never take the time to talk to Him in prayer. They want to be spiritually alive, but spend little time with the “bread of life” (the Bible). They want a faith that will sustain them in times of trouble, but have little thought of God when things go well. They want worship to be exciting, emotionally fulfilling, and spine tingling, but are spectators not participants in the assembly. They talk about the importance of Christ in their lives, and then crowd Him out of their lives. Paul described these folk as “having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof” (2 Timothy 3:5).

Faith in Jesus Christ is life changing, or at least it was meant to be.

“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17). To follow Jesus requires that we rid our lives of all that is contrary to His will and nature, and that we imitate His life, His love, His devotion, and His compassion. He gave us the perfect example to follow (1 Peter 2:21).

As Christians, our purpose is to do the will of Him who died to save us.

We are not people pleasers, but God pleasers (Galatians 1:10). What we believe and stand for is not determined by public opinion and popular vote. We believe the Bible to be the word of God. We honor God by honoring His word. It is our rule book for life. It tells us how to live, what kind of people we are to be, how we are to treat one another, and what is required of us in order to live eternally. It is impossible to share in all the blessings of Christ, while rejecting the responsibilities of discipleship. Thus, the light of every true Christian will shine brightly each day.