I find it disheartening to come across so many Christians that make no effort to have a relationship with God by not reading their bible and rarely praying. That being a Christian is merely a word without any meaning behind it. Choosing to live our lives to satisfy ourselves with no concern as to whether or not we are truly walking with God or caring the least bit about the manner in which we impact other people’s lives.
It seems that we grow more and more to accept and desire the ways of society instead of the ways of God. I used to be this way, not that I now consider myself to be perfect, I certainly have my faults and need my fair share of encouragement and refining, but there was a time in my life where I professed myself to be Christian with rarely ever taking the time to read my bible, my prayers for the most part were selfish, meaningless and repetitive, I lived my life more to please myself, and even at points questioned the existence of God. Several years ago I began to make an effort to read my bible, not in a meaningless manner but with discipline to set aside time for God to learn about God and you know what, I discovered many, many areas in which I had failed God. I am saddened to think of how I have negatively impacted the lives of many individuals by professing myself to be a Christian and yet was so careless and thoughtless in my demeanor. God truly does offer forgiveness of our sins when we repent and turn from wrongful living. There are many scriptures that can be used to support this but I want to share the following one with you.
Ezekiel 18:19-32 19 “Yet you say, ‘Why should the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ Because the son has done what is lawful and right, and has kept all My statutes and observed them, he shall surely live. 20 The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not bear the guilt of the father, nor the father bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon himself. 21 “But if a wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is lawful and right, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 22 None of the transgressions which he has committed shall be remembered against him; because of the righteousness which he has done, he shall live. 23 Do I have any pleasure at all that the wicked should die?” says the Lord GOD, “and not that he should turn from his ways and live? 24 “But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and does according to all the abominations that the wicked man does, shall he live? All the righteousness which he has done shall not be remembered; because of the unfaithfulness of which he is guilty and the sin which he has committed, because of them he shall die. 25 “Yet you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ Hear now, O house of Israel, is it not My way which is fair, and your ways which are not fair? 26 When a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity, and dies in it, it is because of the iniquity which he has done that he dies. 27 Again, when a wicked man turns away from the wickedness which he committed, and does what is lawful and right, he preserves himself alive. 28 Because he considers and turns away from all the transgressions which he committed, he shall surely live; he shall not die. 29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair.’ O house of Israel, is it not My ways which are fair, and your ways which are not fair? 30 “Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways,” says the Lord GOD. “Repent, and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin. 31 Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. For why should you die, O house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of one who dies,” says the Lord GOD. “Therefore turn and live!”
God does not want any man to die and when a righteous man chooses to turn his back and live in sin he will die in sin and when a sinner chooses to repent and live right according to God, he shall live.
Another passage that I want to share with you is the parable that Jesus tells about the sower and the soils. Luke 8:4-15. “4 And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him(Jesus) from every city, He spoke by a parable: 5 “A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. 6 Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. 7 And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. 8 But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.” When He had said these things He cried, “He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” 9 Then His disciples asked Him, saying, “What does this parable mean?” 10 And He said, “To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that ‘ Seeing they may not see, And hearing they may not understand.’[b] 11 “Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
Here also is Jesus’ explanation of the parable from Matthew 13:18-23. 18 “Therefore hear the parable of the sower: 19 When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside. 20 But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; 21 yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles. 22 Now he who received seed among the thorns is he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. 23 But he who received seed on the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.”
Where are you in this parable? Has the word of God been preached to you and yet you choose not to believe or don’t understand? Have you received the word of God but are going through a rough period and are giving up or already have? Have you received the word of God but desire this world over God’s and make no effort to spread the word of God? Where are you? The first time I read this that it truly sank in to me (and even now) I can see myself at each stage. When it gets tough wanting to give up but we must persevere. We must make the effort to create a relationship with God because when we don’t we are not fruitful, we do not glorify God. If you don’t understand the word of God pray and ask him to give you understanding. People read people and if you are professing yourself to be Christian but not living your life in a manner in which God would be pleased you are negatively influencing those around you. If you are not reading your bible how do you know the ways of God? Nothing is impossible with God so if you need help, ask him.
Faith without works cannot be called faith. Faith without works is dead – read the book of James (it’s short). Please, I encourage all Christians to not just profess yourself as being a Christian but to live as being a Christian. I hate to think where I would be today had my life not changed and one day we will all be held accountable for our actions. Only by repenting and accepting Jesus into our lives can we be saved. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. 17 For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” If you have asked Jesus into your heart and do not allow works to come forth from your faith you are spiritually dead. Where are you at in your walk with God? It’s not too late to turn back to God if you have walked away, ask for forgiveness and for God to restore you and please make an effort to read your bible, you don’t know what you are missing.
If you have not asked Jesus into your heart and would like to then pray this prayer:
Lord, Jesus, I know that I am a sinner. I know that I have sinned against you and others. I am sorry. I believe you are the Son of God who died for me. I believe that your blood cleanses my sins. Forgive me, I pray. I trust you as my saviour. Come into my heart today and make me a new person. Send your Holy Spirit to guide me and help me to grow in faith daily. Amen.
“Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson,
Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”
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