Who are YOU Following?

As a Christian we read and remember the stories in the Bible. Unfortunately, many read the Bible like they do a book of fiction or easy reading. We get an interesting story and we may even find a situation in the story that we might be able to use in our daily lives. We then can say we read the Bible and will apply what we learned in our daily lives. That satisfies us that we are being a good Christian, especially if we go to church regularly. By doing these things we can separate ourselves from the Non-Christians that don’t do these things. We have a tendency to judge others by our own life and actions, which we “know” are “good” and “just”.

If we look in the Old Testament and study the relationship that people had with God, we will perhaps find out how they came to not only believe but also become God’s Heart, Voice and Hands. We know Moses as a coward, a liar and murderer, before his encounter with the burning bush. His relationship with God developed from just knowing God existed into a more intimate one as a friend, a confidant and perhaps like a “son” to God, even to the point of speaking for Him. To try to understand how that happened we can look at when Moses asked God what His name was (Ex 3:13-14). God did not say “I WAS” and He did not say “I WILL BE”, instead God said, “I AM”. That is important because that implies that He is unchanging, He has not been different in the past and He will not be different in the future. So, the many promises made in the Bible are timeless, and He will always tell us what is true and right. That means that God is willing to have an intimate relationship with these human creatures that He made. So how can we have that same relationship with God that Moses and others in the Bible have had? 

In our culture today we seem to be more worried about who we were or what we want to become than truthfully being who we are. We try to give ourselves importance by saying we come from a prestigious lineage, or by our education, or what profession we have, etc. We also seem to be proud of our own selves, when we talk about how soon we will have more money, or a bigger house, or a better job, etc. Why are we so afraid of telling and showing people who we really are? If we follow Christ, we become more like HIM, not what we were and maybe not what we may want to become. God is unchanging, but we must continuously change to become more acceptable to God by following Him through Christ. How come being a Christian isn’t more important to us? There is a saying that “If you stand for nothing you will fall for everything.” God has laid out a path for each of us, but we sin when we use our free will to step off this path and follow our selfish desires or dreams.

We also fail God with our silence. It is hard to stand up for what is right, because we are more worried about our image, our friends, the things of this world. etc., --- and we remain quiet so as to not threaten or lose what we have. We are steeped in this world and our love of it, yet we do not stand up for the good things that God wants for all of us, because we remain silent. The God-based solutions for our issues of living go unrealized because of our silence and inaction. We don’t trust God that His will can make all things better and more pleasing to God (Mal 3:18, MT 8:24, Lk 4:8, Jn 12:26). What can a Christian do?

The quick answer is to worship God. That is what many “Christians” do, however they don’t go much further than that. They leave the church and step back into the world until the next week, when they may go again. We must not only live in the world; we must also bring God’s love and forgiveness into the world and be identified to all as a Christian. And we must do this while being true to our beliefs but not self-righteous. We also must do it with humility, honesty, truthfulness and generosity while being a moral person with no hidden agendas.

Jesus moved and taught among the people much more than He did in the Synagogue. We also must be the living Word of Christ by all of our actions in our daily lives. That means we stand up for what is right, and through our words and actions we keep God’s commandments.

As an example, all human life is sacred to God and should be sacred to us. We live in an imperfect world, but God trusts us not only to keep His Word but also do it with love. There are times when someone must decide between the life of a mother and the life of her unborn child. Someone may need to decide when to unplug the equipment that is keeping someone’s body alive. There are times when a rescue person must make a decision to save a person while possibly losing his life. These situations occur, but God gave us all we need to make a choice and go ahead. If our decision is wrong, and we have repentance, He will forgive us. God always expects us to do something, but turning our back and ignoring the situation is never the right decision and leads us away from God, because we turn our back on Him. That is not only true for life and death decisions but also for all decisions made in the social, political, and all other arenas of our lives. Our salvation depends on how we think, act, behave and most importantly how we love. Our salvation depends on the truthfulness of the way we live, just as our redemption rests on the Truth of Jesus,

The Disciple Group suggests that you examine how truthfully you are living. If you are a peaceful, gentle and strong person through the trials of living, that indicates your faithfulness. We suggest you sit down with your trusted best friend or confidant and seriously ask them how you are doing. Their answers may surprise you.

Perhaps you should consider joining us in the Disciple Group. We try to look at ourselves and how to understand the way of following Jesus. Ask Pastor Gary for more information.