By Not Known
Life has many disappointing moments. We buy a product with a lfietime guarantee only to discover that its life ends shortly after we leave the store. Someone makes a promise to us and seals it with grand words – only to break it when it suits them.
It is like that for some who say they follow Jesus. The Gospels tell of the many who accompanied Jesus at different times, but only a few were left at the end. His parable of the soils tells of four groups of people who receive the word of God, bon only one group lasts (Mk. 4: 1- 20). The story of the Christian outreach in missions and evangelism is as much a story of people abandoning Jesus as it is a story of people continuing to follow him.
The bible makes it clear that the test of our Christianity is not a profession of faith, but its demonstration in lasting deads.
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Jesus said:Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my father who is in heaven (Mt 7:21)
- Revelation promises much to those who belong in Jesus – but their perseverance is the test of the promise (Rev. 2: 7, 10b, 26- 27)
- The book of Hebrews draws man lessons from those who started out following Moses in the wilderness, but who did not persevere:See to it, brothers, that none of you have a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. It is impossible for those who have been enlightened… if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again… (Heb 3: 12, 6: 4- 6)
All that brings us to today’s services, where our theme is one of obedience for the long haul. Some of us at ORPC declared ourselves for Jesus many years ago and soem have done this very recently. Maybe heaven rejoiced at these declarations, but have we stayed with Jesus and have we grown with Jesus?
Ask yourself this simple qustion: Do I follow Jesus more closely now than I did 12 months ago? For many, the answere to this question is No. That is a serious problem between us and God.
Pray for yourself and others, taht God will give us the grace of his Holy Spirit such that we will continue to follow and server Jesus all of our lives.