When we sincerely contemplate the gravity of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross we cannot deny that we have an obligation to respect and revere him. He paid a debt he did not owe. We owe a debt we cannot pay. Our response must be to love him and to take up our own cross and follow him. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Mathew 22:37.
In North America, society has been blessed with material wealth and a very small percentage of the population are considered poor by global standards. We have grown accustomed to living with plenty and seldom find ourselves on our knees pleading for God’s help. Jesus said it is harder for a rich man to enter heaven than it is for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. As a secular society, taking up our cross and following Christ is a foreign concept. Paul enlightens us on how our choices impact our faith. “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Romans 12:2
The fulcrum of Christianity hinges on repentance. In order to be saved, we must believe and if we believe we must repent of our former ways and follow Jesus. We must turn our back on sin and face Christ. We must forsake the world and embrace the cross! Without repentance there can be no salvation. Without repentance there can be no filling of the Holy Spirit. Without repentance you cannot know Christ. “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” 1 John 3:6.
Complacency can become the enemy of salvation and there are many, many people who identify as Christians who are at risk of not receiving eternal life on the coming day of the Lord. The Bible refers to them as the lukewarm Church. “I know your deeds, that you are neither hot nor cold. I wish that you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth. You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked.” Revelation 3:15-17.
Adversity produces strength and perseverance. North American churches can be found on easy street. Many Christian churches today are shortchanging their congregations by preaching a candy cane gospel that has no call for heartfelt repentance and obedience to God’s word. Rather than being sold out for Christ many church leaders have become bankrupt of the Holy Spirit. Rather than being anointed with the Spirit they are watered down with carnality.
The complacent church has become disillusioned and apathetic. In this day of political correctness, subjective morality and secular inclusivity, the church that compromises with the gravitational pull of the world, has lost its power through the mediocre settlement with the ways of the devil. When faced with persecution and tribulation, the complacent church does not have the strength to stand and is easily swallowed up and swept away. The church that embraces what is accepted by the world cannot stand for God and many don’t even care. Denomination after denomination of what are supposedly Christian churches are endorsing sin through ordaining gays and lesbians, condoning abortion and watered-down doctrine that is contrary to scripture.
We see the Christian churches in China, North Korea, Iran and Africa spreading like wild fire while they are being persecuted and people are being killed and imprisoned for their faith and we pray for them and wish they could be like us. They are not the ones in poverty, we are. We have become the lukewarm church of the third chapter of Revelation. We need to be more on fire for Jesus than society is for the demonic forces that control the fleshly desires of man! Many churches today cannot tell the difference between the wolf and the sheep!
As Christians, we must cry out to Jesus, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” Our cries need to touch the heart of God. Our petitions to the Lord must come from a place deep within us in all sincerity. “What is this living water you speak of Jesus?” We must beg to ask Christ the question, “What must I do to be saved?” What is the assurance of our salvation? What do we do in our lives that furthers the kingdom of God? What do we do in our lives that spreads the love of God?
Our hearts were made to be alive and on fire for Jesus. We were designed to yearn for a relationship with the living God. When you truly believe and have the indwelling Holy Spirit awakening your spirit, you are changed from the inside and your heart is set ablaze for the Lord. When your relationship with Jesus is the focal point of your life, it becomes an intentional experience of seeking to know Christ better and to draw nearer to him through prayer and worship each day, sharing your passion for Jesus with others, serving others and meditating on God’s word always. Your life will become love in action.
We must be intentional in setting our hearts, minds and souls on Christ. To bask in the love and the joy of being in the presence of the Lord. To feel the Holy Spirit in you welling up like springs of living water that satisfy your thirst for God so that you will never thirst again. Let the fire of Christ burn within you. Fire is consuming, bright and hot, it refines and purifies. Feed the fire with Bible study and fellowship with other believers. Allow yourself to be overwhelmed by passion and love for God, allow the Holy Spirit to wrap you up in joy and peace that transcends all human understanding. Allow yourself to be so full of the Holy Spirit that you cannot contain it.
Live for him! Love for him! Serve Christ Jesus with unbridled passion, as an expression of deep heartfelt gratitude for his sacrifice and atonement on the cross at Calvary. Don’t let life pass you by and leave you unsure of your eternal destiny, but rather, finish the game leaving everything on the field, exhausted and satisfied knowing you gave it your all. Then, when you enter heaven, you will hear the Master say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
