Thursday, January 4, 2018

Living The Easy Life? Too Bad For You!

If you're living a life of ease, of luxury, where nothing really tests you from day to day, then I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this:
     You're no Christian. You're in desperate need of salvation. 

      I don't have the authority to guarantee that, of course. But the likelihood is high.
You see, IF you are a saved Believer, a true child of God, then He will be working with you, and working ON you, to develop your character and understanding of His Word. The goal for every Christian is to be transformed into the likeness of Christ to the closest degree possible on this side of Heaven.

So, how does He do that? By challenging you. Testing you. Putting you through difficult situations (but not impossible - God does not give you more than you can handle with His help) that are meant to help you grow as a person and as a Christian.

Think about it: how do you build physical muscle? By breaking down the muscles you currently have in order to rebuild them stronger. How do boot camp sergeants make soldiers out of eighteen-year olds? By breaking down their old habits before they re-build you the military way. So, how does God bring you up towards Christ's standards? By breaking down those bad habits you have and re-creating you in His Image out of the pieces. 

Consider: in my situation, I have a disease that God has allowed me to fight for the last eight years or so. Tubular Aggregate Myopathy is a rare condition; under one hundred people in the world have it. But it's the perfect choice for someone who needs to be slowed down from his 60-80 hour per week band directing job so he could stop and listen to the Lord calling him, to hear the Holy Spirit convicting him of his need for God. I can guarantee that I'd never have been saved otherwise. (And I have my late wife Melissa to thanks for that.) Has my TAM made me stronger? Only in a Christian sense - physically, I'm much worse than I was, and with or without the Rapture I don't expect to see 2019.  But my character, hopefully, is more in the likeness of Christ than it ever was before. Which is wonderful if I'm going to see Him so soon!

And what about the Devil? If we're working for the Lord's purposes, we've placed a target symbol on our backs for the demons to attack. But if we're NOT doing anything for the Lord's purposes, the Devil's not interested in what we're doing. 

Truth is, neither is God. If you're not in the game, if you're not in the war, then nobody cares what you're doing. Nobody in Heaven or Hell, anyway. 

There's a sweet and powerful scene in the movie, God's Not Dead, in which the wealthy financier is talking to his elderly mother, wasting away in the nursing home:

MARK: You prayed and believed your whole life. Never did anything wrong. And here you are. You're the nicest person I know. I am the meanest. You have dementia, and my life is perfect. Explain that to me!

MOM: Sometimes the devil allows people to live a life free of trouble because he doesn't want them turning to God. Their sin is like a jail cell. except it is all nice and comfy and there doesn't seem to be any reason to leave. The door's wide open. Until one day, time runs out, and the cell door slams shut, and suddenly it's too late. 

What does your cell look like? Would you like out of it? It's easy: the door's wide open.

No comments:

Post a Comment