You have a lot of reasons to stay where you are. It’s comfortable, ‘safe’, and you’re not hurting anyone else. You don’t steal, kill or do drugs. You may watch a few “R-rated” movies now and then and if someone wants to judge you for smoking a cigarette once in a while just to let off a little stress, who are they to compare themselves to you? The bible says to not judge, so what should you care what other people think? You may tell a little white lie every once in awhile and may occasionally ‘accidentally’ slip on a cuss word, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to hell, right? Maybe you ‘believe’ that there is a God, but aren’t convinced that there is one. Or, maybe you are sure that there is a God, but you’re not sure that it should it scare you.
Is that you?
If that is you, and you believe in the bible, then yes, it should scare you. If that’s not you, then the answer is still yes, it should still scare you. Why? “But the cowards, unbelievers, vile, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars—their share will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.” Revelation 21:8. We relax biblical standards to make ourselves feel more comfortable about the sin we are surrounded by, but when we do, we taking ourselves further away from the God we claim to serve and the family of believers we gather with as a body 3 times a week to praise our God.
Do you ever find yourself trying to decide if getting up early enough to make it to bible class is really that important and that making it to worship will be, ‘okay, just this once…’? Sure, that verse doesn’t say anything or reference specifically about skipping church, watching R rated movies, cussing, or smoking cigarettes, but 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 does. “Don’t you know that your body is a sanctuary of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought at a price. Therefore glorify God in your body.”
Your body isn’t even yours, so what you put into it is of utmost importance! Why? How about this. How would you like it, if you had loaned a friend some of your favorite clothes and they were returned to you dirty, ripped and unwearable? Or you let someone you trust drive your car to the grocery store only to find out that they totaled it before they even got there? My point being, what you have, is not yours. Everything you have, has been given to you (blessed to you) by God. He saw you fit enough to care for the body you have, the possessions you own, and the precious soul He gifted to you. The Psalmist writes in 144th psalm starting in verse 15, “Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.”. In our obedience to the standard that God has set forth for us in His word, we will honor him, and how blessed, happy and content will we be as His people.
Find peace in knowing that, as sinners, the closer we strive to be to the authority of our loving God, the closer we will be to becoming the redeemed children He has called us to be. (1st John 3:2-3;10)
hell, right? Maybe you ‘believe’ that there is a God, but aren’t convinced that there is one. Or, maybe you are sure that there is a God, but you’re not sure that it should it scare you.
utmost importance! Why? How about this. How would you like it, if you had loaned a friend some of your favorite clothes and they were returned to you dirty, ripped and unwearable? Or you let someone you trust drive your car to the grocery store only to find out that they totaled it before they even got there? My point being, what you have, is not yours. Everything you have, has been given to you (blessed to you) by God. He saw you fit enough to care for the body you have, the possessions you own, and the precious soul He gifted to you. The Psalmist writes in 144th psalm starting in verse 15, “Happy are the people with such blessings. Happy are the people whose God is Yahweh.”. In our obedience to the standard that God has set forth for us in His word, we will honor him, and how blessed, happy and content will we be as His people.