August, 2021 - The Christian Blogger

Faith Without Works is Dead

by JacobAugust 27, 2021August 27, 2021Christian Living

James tells us that faith without works is dead. But what does it mean to have "works" and what does it mean to have faith?

I consider James to be one of the most practical books of the Bible. I’m in the process of reading through it slowly, and it contains an absolute wealth of information.

That’s not to diminish any other book in the Bible; it’s just to communicate that James is especially packed with practical stuff.

What to do in difficult times? Check.

Putting the Word of God into practice in your life? Check.

How to honor and treat everyone equally? Check.

As I was reading this morning, I came across the passage that speaks about faith and works. This is a famous portion of Scripture. Many of you have probably heard it.

Here it is:

What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. [James 2:14-17, ESV]

Read back through this passage slowly. Notice especially the last line: faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

If you’ve been a Christian for a long time, or you grew up in a Christian household, you have probably heard this phrase before.

Faith without works is dead.

We repeat that phrase so often that we lose sight of its true weight. What does it really mean?

What does “works” mean?

And what does it mean to have “dead faith?”

Faith and Works: A Study

What gets us into right standing with God? Is it our works, or is it His grace and mercy?

Answer: it’s the second one!

There was no way we could save ourselves on our own. Our best works and efforts are not anywhere near good enough to get us into Heaven. But God showed incredible grace to us by sending Christ to die for our sins.

We accept God’s grace by placing our faith entirely in Jesus Christ, and it is this faith which gives us “access” to the grace that God showers down upon us.

That’s how we are saved. God sent us a lifeboat, and it’s up to us to jump into that lifeboat. The “jumping in” is done via faith.

Without faith, we drown.

Contemporary mainstream Christianity has gotten really good at emphasizing this.

The message we are used to hearing is this: Do NOT focus on works. Works don’t save you. Focus on who you are in Jesus Christ. You’re saved by grace, through faith, so just focus on having faith and resting in the grace of God.

Is this a true statement? Yes.

But it’s often distorted.

It is entirely true that we cannot be saved by works. We can’t earn our way to Heaven. That is made clear again and again throughout all of the New Testament.

Anyone who teaches you that works are what get us into Heaven is wrong.

But the contemporary church has leaned so heavily into emphasizing grace that the practical side of our faith is often overlooked.

That brings us to our first question:

What do Works Have to do With Faith?

James tells us that faith without works is dead.

Here’s the deal: works are like a thermometer that measures the health of our faith.

When you’re sick, you often take your temperature.

For instance, I woke up in the middle of the night just a few days ago. I felt like I was radiating heat. This isn’t normal for me, so I got up to take my temperature.

My temperature was normal. This was strong evidence that I wasn’t sick.

Similarly, your works are a thermometer for your faith. Works don’t get you into right standing with God, but they do show evidence that you have saving faith.

That’s why James was telling his readers that faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.

True saving faith in Christ will result in works. Are these works perfect? Absolutely not! And even the strongest and most mature of Christians can go through “cold seasons” where their works are diminished.

But all those who have true faith will show works.

You cannot have faith without works – they’re a packaged deal. Works originate from faith, and faith will always result in works of some kind.

If you have no works at all, then it’s very possible that you don’t really have saving faith.

This is why James wrote these words to his readers. It is possible to go through life supposing that you have true saving faith, when in reality you lack it. You can be deceived.

This is a harsh truth that is not spoken of much in churches today.

We’re living in an age where a mere one-time profession of faith – a prayer, baptism, etc. – is taken as an undisputable sign of salvation. Even if the person who once professed faith in Christ shows absolutely no evidence of works, he or she is assured of salvation.

But this is incorrect. All those with saving faith will bear works. We should be very concerned for those who claim to be Christian but live exactly like those who don’t know God.

What are Works, Exactly?

James gives us a specific example of “works” in the passage. How he does it is rather interesting: he gives us an example of a failure to do a work.

If a brother or sister is poorly clothed and lacking in daily food, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, be warmed and filled," without giving them the things needed for the body, what good is that? [James 2:15-16, ESV]

From this, it can be seen that one of the foremost works which ought to be present in a Christian’s life is generosity. Are you generous with your finances and resources? Are you generous with your time?

Open generosity is a hallmark of the Christian life.

But is generosity the only kind of work there is? Not at all. If we jump over to Galatians, we can read an entire list of the “fruits of the Spirit.” These include:

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Gentleness
Self-control

This is a large list!

Indeed, if we wanted to get out a notebook and write down all of the possible works that could be done as a result of saving faith, there wouldn’t be enough notebooks in all the world to contain the writing.

My point is this: “works” are not specific actions that fit into certain categories. Rather, works are the overflowing of faith.

Whatever good thing is done in faith is a “work.”

But that’s the key phrase: whatever good thing is done in faith.

Just as faith does not fail to produce genuine works, genuine works cannot occur without faith. They’re a packaged deal. They’re two sides of the same coin.

Without faith, it is impossible for us to please God (Heb. 11:6). But if we have faith, every good work we do out of that faith is pleasing to Him. Having true faith flips the entire paradigm on its head.

If we don’t have faith, we won’t please God and we won’t do any truly good works, even if we’re a model citizen. You see, there are men and women in this world who are upstanding people. They help their neighbors, donate to charity, volunteer at shelters, and provide a place of safety for others.

They never break the law and they are what everyone else would consider “moral people.”

Yet if they do not do these things out of a sincere faith in God, then their works are still not “good” in the sense that God requires them to be. They’re doing good works by human standards, but they still do not please God.

But if we do have faith, we will please God and we will do good works, even if we’re still struggling mightily against serious sin issues.

Works are those things that we do because of our faith in Jesus Christ.

What if I Don’t Have Any Works in My Life?

This is a question that every Christian will likely ask at some point in their walk with the Lord. Some may ask it rather frequently.

There are also many people who consider themselves Christians, yet aren’t truly saved… and they may ask this question as well.

So what gives? What if I look at my life and I see no evidence of faith-based works?

If this is you, then congrats: you’re the reason why James wrote this particular piece of Scripture. You see, Scripture is filled with wake-up calls designed to shake us out of complacency. How can we grow if we don’t know there’s a problem?

For this question, I’ll handle two cases: (1) – the person who is a genuine believer, but fears that he or she doesn’t have works, and (2) – the person who isn’t truly a believer.

1 – If you’re Truly a Christian

If you sincerely believe in your heart that Jesus died for your sins, and you’ve confessed that with your mouth, then you’re a true believer. You have true faith.

But sometimes you doubt.

Perhaps you’re going through a season of life where your works are not showing like they ought to be. At this point, I would prompt you to ask a question: have I ever been in a place where I was truly living for God?

It’s so easy for many of us to go through hot seasons and cold seasons. One month, we’re reading our Bibles diligently, praying regularly, and sharing the love of Christ with our friends, family, and neighbors.

Another month, we’re cold. We’re burned out. We’re still there; we still believe and we still follow Christ, but it’s harder. The fire seems to have gone out of us.

If that’s you, and the “fire” seems to have gone out, then it’s very likely that you’re not showing as many works as you did were when you were crazy for God. This may cause you concern.

I know, because I’ve been there. I’ve experienced this.

One thing you should know is this: every Christian goes through ups and downs. 2 Timothy 4:2 tells us to be ready both in season and out of season. Just like trees, plants, etc., we will experience times when we’re bearing fruit left and right, and times when our fruit may be much more limited.

But we will always be held to Jesus Christ. Always.

If you’re walking through a spot in your faith right now where things just aren’t as bright as they used to be, then the best thing to do is call out to the Lord.

Call upon Him in faith, and He will hear you. Get regularly into the Word, even if it’s difficult for you to do so.

You know, there is a certain aspect of the Christian faith that is about discipline.

Getting into the Word will not always be easy. Prayer will sometimes be tough; you may need to fight tooth and nail for every moment. Even being around God’s people may not always be what you truly desire to do.

But do these things anyway. Obey, even if you don’t feel like doing so. Take the steps of obedience in faith, even when it feels mechanical and legalistic.

In all relationships, there are seasons where love involves a lot of intentional action and not much good feeling. Ask any married couple who’s been married for longer than a few years, and they’ll tell you that love is not merely about feelings.

It’s the same in our walk with God. It’s not always about feelings. It’s about loving Him and keeping His commandments in faith. We don’t do this to enter Heaven; we do this because our love for Him compels us to do so.

Obey, Believer, even if things feel tough. Stay in the Word and in community, even if these things are incredibly difficult for you.

2- If You’re Not a Christian

If you’re not a Christian, there’s one thing that you should do today: call on the name of the Lord.

Call upon Him in faith, trusting yourself fully to Him. Have you ever done that before? I know that many people have “prayed and asked Jesus into their hearts,” yet come away from the experience no different than before.

I was one of them.

When I was nine, I was led to ask Jesus into my heart. Yet my life did not change. I did not feel different; there was no sense in which my desires or affections changed.

Many of my friends have been this way as well. There was a time in their life – perhaps at church camp, during Sunday services, or at a youth rally – when they repeated the “prayer of salvation.”

Yet many of them saw no change in their lives. There was no change in how they talked, dressed, walked, and otherwise conducted themselves.

None whatsoever.

Why is this?

It’s because their profession of faith was never truly theirs. They professed Christ as Lord, but they didn’t really have faith in Him! It was the same with me. When I asked Jesus into my heart, I did not truly have faith in Him.

It wasn’t until some years later, when I went through a tough time in my life, that I called upon the Lord out of genuine faith.

That is when I was saved and made His.

Today, dear reader, you have within your hands a decision to make: are you going to call upon the Lord in faith, or will you let it slide? You can put this off; you can say that you’ve got the next 10, 20, or 30 years to live it up.

But do you really?

We are not guaranteed tomorrow, let alone ten or twenty more years in this world. The safest, most rational thing you can do is to entrust yourself right now to the Lord Jesus. The safest and best thing you can possibly do is to give your life to Him.

And make no mistake – He wants your entire life.

Jesus wants your finances, your desires, your talents, your actions. He wants all of you. Jesus came and died for you, so that you could be made righteous in the sight of God. There is no other way but Him.

For more in-depth information about who Jesus is and how you can become a child of His, please visit this page.

Closing

As I draw this to a close, remember that – above all – God wants your everything. He wants your efforts, strength, desires, and your faith.

And your faith, if it is genuine, will produce good works.

Works are not what earns our way into Heaven, but they are an indicator that you possess the faith that will save you. Come before the Lord and ask Him to increase your faith, and to increase your love and joy and satisfaction in Him. It is His greatest desire that we would draw near to Him in faith and conform our lives to what He wants.

Let us press forward, doing good works for the Kingdom, earnestly desiring to strive hard after God.

God bless!

Safe Christianity?

by JacobAugust 25, 2021August 24, 2021Uncategorized

Do you have a “safe Christianity?”

What I mean is this: is your Christianity comfortable? Is it tame? Is it neatly compartmentalized, where your time with God is totally separate from work, school, family, friends, or leisure? Is it risk-averse, where you feel the need to keep it “private,” lest you risk offending anyone?

If you’re like most others – including me – this is an all-too-accurate description of your faith.

This faith is tame, calm, beneath the surface, tucked out of sight, and unlikely to do anything big. It’s that special family heirloom which is placed in a box and then hidden on the top shelf of a closet.

It’s something that could be so powerful, yet we relegate it to be just another facet of our busy lives.

Here in Western civilization, we’ve developed a rather unique brand of the Christian faith over the last hundred years or so.

This is what I’m talking about: we’re obsessed with being comfortable.

If a new church is being built, we haggle over minute details.

How many stalls in the bathroom? Where will the speakers go in the worship center? How many lights in the entrance foyer?

Sometimes, debates such as these can cause splits within the church. It can literally drive people to leave because they didn’t get their way.

In our personal lives, we might consider it “bold” to wear a T-shirt with a cross on it, or to listen to Christian music where someone else may just pass by and hear.

We rarely – if ever – share our faith with others. Even with friends, we often don’t broach the subject.

To do so would risk offending them. And we can’t have that.

But guess what?

This “safe” faith that so many of us possess is not only weak; it’s also not what Jesus wants for us.

Jesus did not come to die on the cross for our redemption just so we could tuck our faith away in a corner and live life like everyone else.

Safe Christianity is not really Christianity.

Safe Christianity is NOT Biblical Christianity

In Revelation, Jesus gives seven messages to the seven primary churches at the time. All of the churches had their problems (the church is composed of fallen humans, after all), but perhaps the strongest-worded message that Jesus gave was to the church in Laodicea.

I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. [Revelation 3:15-18, ESV]

When I read this passage, I cannot help but think about the current state of the Church in America (and the rest of the Western world).

We are neither hot nor cold!

This is the essence of “safe Christianity.” Safe Christianity is lukewarm. It seeks to keep one foot in the world and another foot in the Kingdom.

Safe Christianity is noncommittal.

It doesn’t take any risks for the glory of God. It doesn’t hold to Christ when things get tough. It doesn’t truly believe that there is power in our faith!

Safe Christianity dwells among the ranks of the prosperous. It especially relishes air-conditioned buildings, comfortable pews, ornate walls, rock concert worship services with bright lights and smoke machines, and preaching that is all talk and no action.

Now, do I mean that churches that have some of these things are necessarily “lukewarm” churches? No! Not at all.

But if your first focus is on the bright lights, good coffee, or emotional preaching, then a little red flag ought to go up.

What I truly intend to say is this:

Safe Christianity will never push you. It will never challenge you. It is a spectator sport. You get to sit there, eat bagels and drink coffee, and watch a performance.

It doesn’t go any deeper than that.

This is NOT Biblical Christianity. Not even close. Safe Christianity – which is, I daresay, the largest faction of Christianity in America today – is not what Jesus has in mind for us.

It’s neither hot nor cold. It exists among the ranks of the prosperous, those who are more concerned with their bank accounts than with doing the will of God.

It turns church into little more than a social club, something that you just “do” because it’s the “right thing to do.”

Does this sound like your faith? As I look in the mirror, I realize that this sounds an awful lot like my faith.

I have a lot of growing to do, and so do you!

True Faith: What Jesus Wants From Us (and For Us!)

We’ve already talked about the un-Biblical nature of “safe Christianity.” But what does real faith look like?

It’s simple: real faith will throw in with Christ!

What do I mean by this? Real faith is all about following Jesus and joining forces with Him. It’s about following Him no matter where He leads us.

Real faith risks a lot. It risks friendships, job security, and safety. It risks offending others.

Real faith compels you to share your resources generously with those around you. It compels you to put your time, money, effort, wisdom, and gifts to good use.

It compels you to give up your very life for the sake of Jesus. It compels you to die to yourself.

When you commit your life to Jesus Christ – when you become a disciple of His – you are signing away ALL of your rights, privileges, resources, and freedoms.

It’s true. You are giving everything you have to Him.

He died on the cross to save you and redeem you. The Bible tells us that He literally “purchased” us. He bought us.

We’re His. Everything we are is His.

This is not safe, is it?

Think about it. Is it safe to give complete control of your entire life to someone else?

No. In fact, giving your life to someone else is complete foolishness.

Unless that “someone” is Jesus Christ.

As it turns out, giving your entire life to Christ is the single most logical and rational thing that anyone could ever do. You see, this entire world is passing away. In 70 or 80 years, it’s very likely that both you and I will be dead.

Everything we’ve ever worked for – money, power, influence, fame, relationships, etc. – will be gone.

In 200 years, it’s likely that nobody will remember who we even were.

Without Jesus, we will NOT make an eternal impact. Our safe Christianity would tell us, “Keep one foot in the world! Work to make money, to gain power, to show others who you are. Go to church, study the Bible, but make sure that you’re prioritizing you over everything else. Don’t risk anything! Don’t share your faith; stay in your lane.”

Such a line of thinking may seem reasonable, but it’s foolish.

If you keep to comfort, to money, to achievement, you won’t do anything of real eternal significance. But if you yield all you are to all Jesus is, you will. He guarantees it.

It may sound “dangerous” to go all-in with Christ, and it is. It may (and probably will) cost you friendships, promotions, comfort, and an easy life.

But it’s worth it. To do otherwise is to follow a worthless path.

Jesus wants us to be on fire for Him. He wants us out there in the thick of things, winning souls and leading others to Him. He wants us to make disciples of all people. He wants to leverage our resources, skills, strengths, and even weaknesses for His higher purposes.

He wants us to live in radical obedience to Him, even obedience to the point of death.

That is the type of faith Jesus wants from us. And it’s the type of faith He wants for us.

You see, when you’re living life dangerously and “on mission” (and all of us should be), you will be blessed by Him in ways you never would have thought possible.

Your fellowship with the Creator of the universe will be sweeter than you ever thought possible. Your bond with other true Believers will be deeper than you ever felt before.

Safe Christianity has little risk and no reward.

True Christianity has high risk, but with infinite reward.

Today, dear Believer, I challenge you to do this: commit your life fully and totally to Jesus Christ. Throw yourself at Him. Instead of seeking comfort, seek Him. Instead of seeking to have one foot in the world and one foot in the Kingdom, hop over entirely to the Kingdom and seek Him.

Be radical in your faith and obedience to Jesus.

It will cost you much – in fact, it will cost you everything – but you will gain so much more than you lost.

God bless!

Tagged : American Christianity / Bible / Following Christ / Jesus / Safety / Western Christianity

Why Sharing the Gospel is IMPORTANT

by JacobAugust 23, 2021August 23, 2021Christian Living

As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to one monumental task: sharing the Gospel. This is one of the most important calls in all of Scripture.

Jesus is the most important person you will ever know and follow. Everyone and everything else pales in comparison to Him.

Do you know the owner of the company you work for? Do you know the mayor of your town? How about the governor of your state? What about the president or vice president of the United States?

Do you know the Queen of England?

Do you know the Pope?

If you answered, ‘Yes’ to any of those questions, then you know one (or more) pretty important people.

Yet knowing any one of them – or even all of them – pales in comparison to knowing Jesus Christ. In fact, imagine you had a time machine that allowed you to freely travel to any time and place in history. Let’s also imagine that it’s your goal to become personally acquainted with every ruler the world has ever known.

If you succeed in your goal, and you personally know people such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, Abraham Lincoln, and Winston Churchill, then you would still know nobody who comes even close to Christ.

Knowing Jesus is everything.

If you truly know Him, you will lack nothing. That is a fact. It is presented to us in Scripture. Psalm 23 tells us, “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.”

Jesus Himself says (in John 4:13-14), “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

If you know the Shepherd – that is, if you know Jesus Christ, the one and only Son of God – then you will lack nothing. You will be filled to the brim with a “living water” that satisfies everything you need.

Does that mean you’ll be free from desires and wants? No. Does it mean you’ll get everything you want in life? No. But it does mean this: if you know Jesus Christ, you will never lack what you need.

He will supply to you all that is needed in your life.

Sharing the Gospel: a Necessity in the Christian Life

It is necessary to share the Gospel. If you’re a believer, this is something you should – and need – to be doing.

Why?

Because Jesus is everything. Because He is Lord. Because others – your family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, fellow countrymen, and fellow human beings – need to hear about Him.

They need Jesus. Without Jesus, they will die. That’s blunt, but it’s true.

A person will perish without Jesus Christ. He is the only one who can redeem us.

Do you know the Lord Jesus? Do you truly know Him? If you do, then you have “springs of living water” welling up within you. You have the Gospel within you!

Translated directly, Gospel means “Good News.”

If you have the good news of Jesus Christ, then you are told (in no uncertain terms) to share it.

This is called the Great Commission. We read in Matthew 28,

And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." [Matthew 28:18-20, ESV]

If you’re a Christian, you have probably heard the Great Commission preached on and talked about many times. In fact, the Great Commission is preached so often that, for many, its “impact” has worn off.

‘Yeah, I know. Go and make disciples of all nations. Got it. I’ll drop a check in the offering plate for 50 dollars and support the missionaries over in east Asia.’

Too often, our comfortable Western Christianity leads us to simply sit back and throw money at far-away missions. It leads us to put cash in the coffer to prop up nameless faces in distant lands, while we ourselves sit back and discuss who leads the NFL in rushing yards.

Now, is it bad to support missions by giving money to them? No! Absolutely not. It is necessary. Vital. Many forms of missionary work cannot go on without financial support.

We should be supporting foreign missions with financial gifts and time spent in prayer. That is important.

But here’s the rub: when we believe that we’ve done “our part” by simply depositing a monthly check and then walking out the door to go watch football or eat dinner on a Sunday afternoon, we’ve missed the point of the Great Commission entirely.

The Great Commission – the command by our Lord to share Him with the world – does not stop with giving money and expecting a select fraction of Believers to carry out the hard work of witnessing, discipling, and leading others to Jesus.

Re-visit the words of Matthew 28. Jesus says, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…”

Jesus doesn’t directly tell us who is supposed to “go,” but the grammar of the sentence reveals that for us. What Jesus uses here is called an “implied you.”

If I say, “Go to the store,” I’m not telling you who is supposed to go. But I don’t need to. If I’m directing the words at you, then I’m implying that you should go to the store.

That is an implied you.

We have one of those in the Great Commission. Jesus is essentially saying to His disciples, “YOU Go… and make other disciples.”

Are you a disciple of His? If so, the Great Commission is aimed at you.

If you’re a disciple of Jesus – that is, if you know Him and follow Him – then the words spoke in Matthew 28 are words for you.

Jesus’s command is this: You know Me, so go share Me with others.

Share Jesus with people of all nations.

I think we too often have it in mind that the Great Commission is about packing our bags and moving to Africa, where we live for three years in a hut in the jungle.

Could it be that? Yes.

But all nations includes your nation. It includes your neighbor just as much as it includes those on the other side of the world.

Sharing the Gospel is not only for the small sliver of the Church that is called to move overseas. It’s for you and me, wherever we are.

If you’re a disciple, you need to be making disciples. You and I cannot get away from this.

A Call to Action

As I bring this to a close, I recognize that there is so, so much more that could have been said here.

I could have written about how to share the Gospel. I could have analyzed the Great Commission line by line. But that is not what I felt laid on my heart.

What I felt laid on my heart is this: we need to share the Gospel! It’s important. It is necessary.

I myself am as at fault as any one of you reading this. Do I share the Gospel? Do I witness to my neighbors and friends and co-workers and fellow citizens?

No. I don’t. I feel heavily convicted of that.

The truth is, I am afraid. So are many of you.

We’re afraid of rejection. We’re afraid of what others will say. We are afraid of persecution, of the biting words of angry men and angry women who hate God and want nothing to do with Him.

And that fear is natural.

But it must be overcome.

Whether we’re loud or quiet, extraverted or introverted, bold or timid, we’re called to share the Gospel and make disciples.

We’re called to this whether we’re young or old, rich or poor, sick or healthy.

The call to share Jesus Christ does not change depending upon your status. All disciples – that’s me and that’s you, if you know Jesus Christ – are called to make other disciples.

But we’re afraid, and that stops us.

How can we be un-afraid?

Well, just read on to the end of the passage in Matthew 28. Jesus says, “And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

You see, our fear is real. We fear being shut down, spit on, cursed at, rejected, and alienated. We fear burning bridges or offending friends and family with the Gospel.

Our fear is real. But at the same time, it’s also an illusion. Why is that?

Because Jesus Himself promises us that He will always be with us.

I can guarantee you this: if you witness to others, you will be hated for it. Many people will not like you. It will be uncomfortable. It will be difficult. You will lose friendships.

But Jesus will draw nearer to you than you ever thought possible. Remember how He gives living water to all those who follow Him?

Go out and share the Gospel to His glory, and see what happens with that living water. Jesus will not forsake you. He will not leave you. There are stories all over this world of men and women who were put through the worst ordeals imaginable for the sake of Jesus Christ.

These are people who were jailed, tortured, beaten, hated, and even killed. They literally gave their lives for the sake of Jesus.

But guess what?

Of those who lived to tell the tale, not a single one of them has ever – EVER – said they regretted it. In fact, the presence of Jesus Christ was sweeter and more real to them in their darkest day than at any other time in their lives.

When we share the Gospel for the glory of Jesus Christ, we may lose relationships. We may be hated. If we live in a nation that actively persecutes Christians, we may even be jailed or killed.

But Christ will not forsake us. He will draw near to us.

Finally, imagine this: let’s say that you witness to a hundred people, and ninety-nine of them hate you.

But one receives the Gospel.

How sweet is the rejoicing in Heaven over that one person! That is a soul saved for all eternity, and God worked through you to accomplish this.

To bring this to an end, my challenge to you and to me is this: let’s get out there and share Christ.

Let’s proclaim the Gospel boldly, no matter who we are or what our personality may be. Let’s make disciples, acting as soldiers for Christ in a warzone. Let’s do battle in the trenches, relying upon Christ the whole way to transform others and bring them into the Church and into eternal life.

Let’s do this to the glory of God, because we are called to give our lives in service to Him.

After all, He gave His life in service to us.

God bless!

Tagged : Christianity / Evangelism / Glorifying God / Jesus Christ / Sharing the Gospel / Witnessing

The Testing of Your Faith

by JacobAugust 20, 2021August 20, 2021Christian Living

Why does God sometimes leave us in painful circumstances? Life is difficult, but Scripture assures us that the testing of your faith produces strength.

Have you ever gone through difficulty?

If you’re human, the answer is likely a resounding yes. Life is full of trouble. Sure, it’s full of joy and full of happiness too, but life has its bad moments.

People get sick. Jobs change. Relationships break down.

In the mist of troubles, it is not uncommon for us to lift our eyes to Heaven and cry out, “God, please fix this!”

We’re human, after all. We don’t like pain. We don’t like it when a friend betrays us, when a job falls through, or when sickness strikes. If we did, there would be something wrong with us.

So we call out to God to fix the situation. We have it in mind that we’re not supposed to be in pain. We’re not supposed to be hurting, grieving, or torn up. Therefore, we appeal to our Creator, to our Father, and our appeal often goes something like this:

Lord, I am hurting. I don’t want to be here. You said that you work all things together for good, so why can’t you just fix this whole thing?

Indeed, when we’re in pain, all we want is for it to end.

But oftentimes, that is not God’s will for us. In all circumstances – even the most painful – God has a purpose for your suffering.

God has a purpose for your pain.

James: The Testing of Your Faith

Just the other morning, I felt led to read from the book of James. I opened it up to the first chapter and began reading. Starting in verse two, it says,

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4, ESV)

Right there, in that short passage, is the answer for why God often allows pain in the life of the Believer. This is why God sometimes doesn’t change your circumstance.

He is allowing your faith to be tested.

Why is this?

Let’s take a short detour down Metaphor Lane.

Imagine a bodybuilder. A bodybuilder is strong, muscular, and physically-fit. The strongest bodybuilders in the world can lift hundreds upon hundreds of pounds of weight. How did they get there?

It was through continuous “testing” of their muscles.

You see, you cannot grow strong without going through pain. A weightlifter subjects their muscles to intense resistance. This intense resistance (in the form of heavy weight) stretches their muscles to the limits of their abilities.

In fact, each workout creates small tears in their muscle fibers.

That’s why working out hurts so much. Those who train for strength are literally injuring their muscles on the microscopic level. All that soreness and stiffness? It’s because the muscles are full of tiny tears.

Once the muscles have been torn, the individual muscle cells will grow larger, thus filling in the tears. Larger muscle cells will then translate into more strength.

When you first start weightlifting, even a small amount of weight can feel difficult and painful to lift. But after weeks, months, and years of repeated workouts, each one taking you to the limit of your endurance, you’ll build up muscle. The weight that seems so difficult at the beginning will one day feel light.

It is the same way with our faith.

Like it or not, our faith is like a “muscle.” True, we are granted a measure of faith when we first believe on Jesus for our salvation. That is the faith that saves us. But faith is deepened and strengthened over time by testing it. And this deeper, stronger faith will allow you to be of greater and greater service for the Kingdom.

You will grow nearer to God and more able to stand in the storms of life.

Every time you’re going through a difficult situation, remember that God is working in your difficulty. Is it wrong to call out to Him for healing? By no means! Is it wrong to desire the pain to end? Not at all.

But please understand this: when God doesn’t remove that obstacle, that situation, or that “thorn in the flesh,” He has a higher purpose for it. Your faith is being tested, and being put under load.

There is purpose in your struggle. If you’re a son or daughter of God, you can be sure that He is working everything together for your good. In James, we read that we are supposed to, “Count it all joy… for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

Why should we count it all joy? Why is steadfastness (or strength, or endurance) so desirable?

Because it allows you to be, “…perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

You see, there’s reward after the storm. Your struggle, painful as it may be right now, will strengthen your faith. It is forcing you to exercise your spiritual muscles! And what happens after your ordeal is over?

Your steadfastness – that increased strength of your faith – will allow you to be “perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The rewards of stronger faith are many. Those with stronger faith live life more abundantly. They walk in closer fellowship with God. They love, serve, and lead more effectively.

Who wouldn’t want that?

Struggles ultimately often turn out to be God’s mercies in disguise. Yes, there’s pain, but that pain serves a purpose. It is being worked for your good and for God’s glory.

Count it all joy, therefore, when you experience the trials and storms of life. Each season of difficulty is an invitation to strengthen your faith and deepen your love for God.

God bless!

Tagged : Adversity / Difficulty / Faith / God / God is good / Love / Testing of faith / Trials

Don’t Quit – Keep Running the Race!

by JacobAugust 19, 2021August 18, 2021Christian Living

The Christian life is like a race. We are all running the race for a prize. Great rewards await us, but we must be careful to not give up!

My chest burned. My legs screamed in pain. My face seemed to radiate heat, and I was convinced that I couldn’t keep going.

This was how I felt when I – as a teenager in the eighth grade – ran a 400 meter dash.

For 60 seconds, I was subject to a great deal of pain and suffering. I, and seven other teens around my age, pushed ourselves to the limits of our abilities.

It was tough, but worth it. I remember winning a prize for that race. It was a race well run.

Did you know that Scripture likens the Christian life to a race?

Each of us – if we are believers in Jesus Christ – is running in what amounts to the biggest race we’ll ever participate in. No matter how many 5k’s, half marathons, iron mans, or marathons you run, you’ll never run a race bigger or more consequential than the one you run for God.

Ever.

You’ll also never run a race with a greater prize than the race you run for God.

Think about this: Olympic athletes compete for the ultimate prize – a gold medal. If you win Olympic gold, your name will go down in the history books. You’ll be honored on television worldwide. Your newfound fame might even allow you to become rich.

These athletes spend their entire lives training.

Nobody just walks into the Olympics and wins gold. Nobody just walks into the Olympics period – everyone who competes in the Games is there because they spent a huge amount of time and effort to do so.

It is the same way with our Christian lives. Let’s look at 1 Corinthians 9:24-27.

Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified. [1 Corinthians 9:24-27, ESV]

In this section of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is likening the Christian life to a great race. His metaphor is far-reaching – we’ll unpack it below.

Running the Race

What does it mean to “run the Christian race?” Paul shows us through a combination of metaphor and strongly-worded writing.

Here are some examples of this “strong wording:”

Only one receives the prize

I discipline my body and keep it under control

Lest after preaching to others I should be disqualified

If you really stop to think about it, these are potent phrases. What does Paul mean when he writes, “Only one receives the prize?” If we take this outside of its proper context, we might be given to think that the Christian life is a competition – and only the best of the best get the rewards.

This is not what Paul has in mind.

Instead, when all of these things are considered, a picture starts to come together: the Christian life is TOUGH. Commit to it with ALL you have. Don’t tire out; keep going!

Run to Get the Prize

To start the passage, Paul asks us a question: ‘Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?’

He is awakening us to a truth: a race is difficult. Just think back to my story earlier on in this article. That 400 meter dash was tough. If you’ve ever run a race – especially a long-distance race – you’ll know the feeling. Your muscles burn, you huff and puff for air, and the sweat streams down your skin.

Running a race is no easy task. But winning the race?

That’s even tougher.

Running a race requires commitment. If you want to finish first, it requires all-out dedication. It requires strength. It requires you to press on, despite all the pain your body may feel.

I am convinced that the winner of a race isn’t always the most physically-fit or talented of the group. Rather, he or she is often the one who wants it the most.

Do you want to “win” this race, Believer? Do you want to cross over that threshold at the end of your life and hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant?”

Then you must run in such a way as to obtain the prize.

This does NOT mean that you’re competing against fellow Christians for who can be the holiest, the godliest, the most disciplined. Not at all. Notice that Paul says, “Run THAT you may obtain it.” Some other translations say, “Run in such a way as to receive the prize.”

You are not in a brutal battle for first place among your fellow Christians. Rather, you’re living the Christian life with the same spirit and the same vigor and commitment of the winner of a race.

In other words, you’re all in.

You’re like that person who wins the 5k or the marathon. You want to win. You’re willing to do anything it takes. This race is your life. You’ve devoted all you have to running it well.

That is what it means to, “Run that you may obtain the prize.”

How to Run the Race

Verse 24 showed us what it means to run the Christian race. But how do we go about doing this?

Verses 25, 26, and 27 show us the practical side to this lifelong commitment. Let’s re-read them:

Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control..." [1 Corinthians 9:25-27, ESV]

The truth of the matter is this: the Christian life requires work. It requires discipline. It requires endurance and perseverance. It’s an all-out commitment, and all-out commitments come with all-out obedience and devotion.

If you want something really badly, you’ll do whatever is necessary to obtain it.

Now, does this mean that we are working to earn our salvation?

Absolutely not. Our salvation was a gift granted to us by God the moment we believed on Jesus Christ.

This ‘Christian race’ is what follows. We’re not running this race because we are seeking salvation; we’re running it because we’re already saved. Your ticket to entering this race was your status as a born again child of God.

God saved you through His only Son Jesus Christ. Now that you’re saved, you’re in this race. And you should want to run it well, because you will be rewarded for doing so.

We run this race well by doing the following: being intentional and exercising discipline and self-control.

To be intentional, we must be actively and consciously setting our sights and efforts on the Lord. That’s why Paul says that he does not “run aimlessly” or “box as one beating the air.” These are things that will lead you nowhere. There is a certain degree of strategy and active living required both for athletics and for Christian living.

Intentionality might look like blocking out a time every morning (or evening) for Bible study or prayer. It might look like memorizing Scripture. It might look like regularly getting together with a group of other Believers to fellowship and grow in the Lord.

Intentionality is all about being active. It’s about choosing where to invest your time and resources. It is the opposite of passivity and inaction. There is a beneficial way to invest yourself, and there is a detrimental way to invest yourself.

Intentionality chooses the beneficial.

To be disciplined, we must pursue strength in the Lord. What is discipline? It is nothing less than controlled behavior.

Discipline is founded upon conviction. It is founded upon a bedrock desire to behave rightly and do the proper thing. Discipline is what keeps you from eating ice cream during a diet. It’s what keeps you from spending your hard-earned money on something you don’t need.

It also serves as the backbone of your running in the Christian race. Notice what Paul says: every athlete exercises self-control in all things.

In other words, discipline is the engine that powers your self-control. If you have discipline, you’ll have the ability to control yourself. This goes hand-in-hand with intentionality. Intentionality is about being proactive and choosing to do things that will benefit you.

This is undergirded by discipline, which ultimately reveals itself in the form of self-control.

Are there books that you know you should not be reading? Are there movies you watch and songs you listen to that will damage your faith or tempt you to behave in a way that’s not honoring to God?

If there are, having discipline and self control will allow you to cut them out of your life. This may sound legalistic, but it’s necessary.

Now, it is necessary to include a word of warning here: you MUST go into this process being submitted to the Lord, and you must go into it with a genuine desire to please Him. You cannot approach this from the angle of, “doing something for God so that you’ll get something out of it” or, “earning good graces with the Lord.”

That won’t work.

Your obedience, discipline, and self-control are not your attempts to get on God’s good side. Rather, they’re your services of worship to the Lord. They’re designed to allow you to experience closer and sweeter fellowship with Him. And they’re designed to strengthen your running in this great Christian race.

If you lack these qualities – if you lack discipline and self-control – then you know that you have someone you can go to: the Lord. Remember, you’re not saved by your obedience and rule-keeping. You’re saved because He provided the way to be saved, and you believed upon Him.

If God gave you His only Son, what makes you think that He won’t give you the discipline and self-control you need to run the race well?

Ask God for these things. Ask Him to increase your measure of these things. He will hear you!

It is God’s desire for you to be able to run the race well. Ask Him in faith for intentionality, for discipline, and for self-control. Work with Him. Strive to obey Him. Strive to please Him. Strive towards Him in love and desire for Him, and He will strengthen you.

The Cost of Quitting (or Being Disqualified)

The last words of our passage in Corinthians are rather dire ones.

“…Lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.”

What does this mean? Can we be “disqualified” from the race?

The answer must be ‘yes,’ otherwise God would not have inspired Paul to write it. A couple important questions are therefore raised: What does it mean to be ‘disqualified?’ And how do we become disqualified?

Here is my interpretation: when Paul speaks of being ‘disqualified,’ he is not speaking of losing salvation or falling out of God’s favor. Rather, he is talking about losing the rewards that come from running the race.

What are the rewards?

It is impossible for us to truly know that answer. Scripture teaches us that ‘all who call on the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13).’ Therefore, we are not running to receive eternal life. That is granted to us the moment we cast ourselves fully upon the Lord for our salvation.

However, we do have other Bible passages that might allude to what Paul means here. One of the beautiful things about Scripture is that it serves as its own translator.

Let’s take a look at 1 Corinthians 3:10-15.

According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw - each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. [1 Corinthians 3:10-15, ESV]

Although the metaphors are different (in chapter 9, Paul speaks of a race; in chapter 3, a building), the principles are similar.

In this life, we are laboring for the Kingdom of Heaven. We’re serving God. When Paul likens our walks with the Lord as a race, he’s trying to impress upon us the seriousness and dedication with which we must approach the Christian life. When he likens it to a building, he’s impressing upon us the lasting consequences of our actions.

As we are laboring – that is, running, building, etc. – for God, we can do many different things. Every action has consequences.

Some of our actions are good ones that have eternal rewards. Discipling people, leading others to Christ, building one another up, and obeying God’s commands are works that are eternally good. They are the gold, silver, and precious stones that Paul speaks of in chapter 3.

Some of our actions don’t have eternal consequences, and some may even have negative consequences. Needlessly fighting over worship styles, seeking to increase church attendance for more prestige and money, and serving ourselves would fall into these categories. These are the wood, hay, and straw that are talked of.

When the Judgement Day comes – the day when all people will be judged and all actions will be brought to light – everything that has been done upon the foundation (that is, in the name of Jesus Christ) will be burned.

What survives? Only the gold, silver, and precious stones. Actions not truly done for God will be burned up and cease to exist.

For those who labor to please God, a great reward will be presented. Those who sow for His glory will receive much in the next life. But for those who labor to please themselves, their works will be burned up. They will still be saved, though Paul says that this salvation will be, ‘only as through fire.’

I believe the same principle applies in the metaphor of the Christian race. You cannot be disqualified from receiving eternal life, but you can be disqualified from receiving the “imperishable wreath” presented at the end of your life.

How do you become disqualified?

It’s simple: hypocrisy. If you’re a Christian, you must be careful to walk humbly. You must exercise self-control and discipline. You must handle issues within yourself before you try to handle the very same issues within others.

Now, does this mean you must be perfect? Absolutely not. But it does mean that you must have the humble mindset of submitting to the Lord. You must be fully committed to God, all-in on Him. If you preach Christ out of selfish ambition or for selfish gain, you cannot expect to receive the prize at the end of this life.

You’ll be saved, of course, but you will not obtain the reward you wished to obtain.

This is, for all intents and purposes, a warning against being hypocritical and superficial as a Christian. Such things do not honor God. They do not honor the Word. We must seek to be genuine, humble, and fully reliant upon the Lord.

If we do that, being sure to submit entirely to Him, we will experience an outpouring of reward in Heaven that is like nothing we can imagine.

Closing Thoughts

Believer, we are in a race. Paul shows us what it looks like to run this race. We must be all-in, fully dedicated, fully in love with the Lord. This life is hard work, and the Christian race is not easy.

But it is worth it.

Cast yourself fully upon God, seeking Him in all things. Seek to please Him in everything – not because we’re earning our salvation or earning His favor, but because He has already given these things to us freely.

At times, this race will feel difficult. It’s exhausting. As I’ve alluded to several times, running a race of any kind is not easy. Do you think that marathon runners feel fresh and fully energized when they cross that finish line after 26.2 miles of running?

Probably not.

There will be times when we’re tempted to just quit. There will be times when we’re tempted to give up and just turn in our resignation.

But press on. Don’t give up; keep running! When you’re tired, ask God to strengthen you. Keep coming back to Him. The more painful things get, the more you ought to press on into Him.

He is our source of strength. Implicit in Paul’s description of the Christian life is this: you cannot run this on your own strength. You’re not enough!

But God is enough. And God will see us through. Surrender to Him, seek Him in prayer, ask Him for the discipline, self-control, and intentionality that you lack.

He will be faithful to provide these things to you.

God bless!

Tagged : Athlete / Bible / Christian race / Christianity / Endurance / Olympics / Race / Running the race

Cultivating Excellence

by JacobAugust 17, 2021August 16, 2021Christian Living

Christians are called to excellence. But what does cultivating excellence look like? And how can we avoid being prideful when doing so? Let’s take a look!

Did you know that we are called to cultivate excellence?

This is a much-overlooked aspect of the Christian life. We hear often about cultivating Godliness, and rightly so! We hear often about cultivating Christ-likeness, and rightly so!

We hear often about cultivating love, peace, joy, steadfastness, self-control, and maturity… and rightly so.

These are all tremendous virtues that we as Christians are called to cultivate with everything we have.

But in addition to all these things (and perhaps in conjunction with all these things), we are called to cultivate excellence. We are called to pursue excellence in all we do, from the smallest action to the biggest decision.

There are two main Bible passages that we’ll be taking a look at today which talk about excellence. The first of these is found in Proverbs:

Do you see a man skillful in his work?
   He will stand before kings;
   he will not stand before obscure men. [Proverbs 22:29, ESV]

The second is located in Colossians:

Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. [Colossians 3:23-24, ESV]

When we examine both of these verses, it becomes clear that we are being called to excellence. We are called to give our very best in everything we set out to do. We’re told that, whatever we find to do – whether in the home or in the workplace, whether in the family or by ourselves – we are to do it well.

Pursuing excellence: that’s what we’re going to be examining today.

What is Excellence?

The first part of our journey here will begin by simply asking a question: what is excellence?

Google Dictionary gives the following definition: ‘excellence’ is the quality of being outstanding or extremely good.

To take things a step further, ‘excellence’ implies standing out. When Christians are called to excellence, we’re called to stand out. We are called to show something that distinguishes us from the rest of the world.

Re-read our passage from Proverbs. It says that a man skilled in his work will stand before kings. If you’re skilled, you will find yourself standing before the most important people.

If you’re set apart, people will notice. That is the basis of Christian excellence. Just as we are to be set apart in our lifestyles and our affections, we are to be set apart in our commitment to hard work and honorable duty.

Now, to be excellent – that is, to stand out and to perform our actions with distinction – we must have two things: a conviction firmly rooted in Christ, and a strong work ethic which grows out of that conviction.

Cultivating Excellence: a Conviction Rooted in Christ

In the Christian life, everything we do ought to be done from a place of love and obedience to Jesus Christ. Our pursuit of excellence is no different.

We HAVE to be rooted in Christ, and Christ alone.

You see, the world has its own ideas of what it means to be excellent.

In our schools and colleges, for instance, we rank students by GPA (Grade Point Average). The students who study hard and devote their time to school work will earn top marks. They will distinguish themselves. They will receive rewards and accolades aplenty.

Such students often get the best scholarships, the highest awards, and the most prestigious honors.

But sadly, most students do this for themselves. They get a strong sense of pride from their achievements, and from setting themselves apart from their peers.

I know this because I once lived it.

I worked hard, achieved top grades, and enjoyed my place of privilege among my classmates. It gave me such a glowing sense of pride and satisfaction to be at the “top of the class.”

This is the world’s meaning of excellence. It is an exaltation of yourself, a setting apart of yourself, for your OWN glory. Think of the businessperson whose wall is covered in golden plaques, the professional athlete who brags about his accomplishments, or the politician who gloats about his achievements to all who will listen.

Pride. That is the root of worldly excellence.

That is precisely why you must – read: MUST – be grounded in a Christ-centered conviction of excellence.

The Bible calls us to give it our all, to pursue the position of being set apart and being excellent. But the Bible also strongly condemns pride, and shows us that we are not our own.

To be prideful is to assert ourselves above God. We should never pursue excellence out of pride.

Instead, this is how we ought to be chasing the Biblical standard of excellence: start with Christ, move in Christ, and end with Christ.

When you go to work, you are going to work for the Lord. When you do your homework, balance your accounts, make business decisions, or play in the band, you are working for the Lord.

You’re not working for yourself.

You must be grounded in the conviction that Christ is everything. In all things you do, submit to Christ. Before you go to work, fall on your knees in prayer and ask God to take charge of your day.

Before you go to school or college, ask God to take charge.

Before you write that paper, submit that report, file that claim, or fix that fence, go to the Lord and ask Him to take charge.

You need to be going into everything with the conviction that Christ is the center and the reason. That is the only foundation from which you can pursue excellence and not become overwhelmed with pride.

This is why Colossians tells us to, ‘Work heartily, as for the Lord…’

The foundation upon which this Christian pursuit of excellence is built is nothing less than the fact that we are serving Jesus Christ whenever we work.

Now, this is the foundation, but we must have something else to carry us through our work. That ‘something’ is nothing less than a Christ-centered work ethic.

Cultivating Excellence: a Christ-Centered Work Ethic

Something largely lost in today’s society is a strong work ethic. Now, not everyone lacks a work ethic – there are still plenty of people who work hard every day – but there is an increasing trend towards prioritizing comfort and even laziness.

Christians would do well to avoid laziness. Scripture strongly implores us to avoid laziness and idleness (2 Thessalonians 3:6-15).

However, we cannot adopt the high-strung work ethic of the world, which teaches you to pursue success at all costs. It teaches you to pursue excellence for your own exaltation.

This is poison to the Christian life. We must seek deeper dependence upon God, not greater independence.

We cannot seek the world’s style of work ethic.

Instead, we must seek to cultivate a work ethic that grows out of our Christ-centered convictions.

Pursuing this Christ-centered work ethic comes in the same way as pursuing a Christ-centered conviction of excellence. The deeper we delve into Jesus, the more naturally it comes.

Let us return to Colossians to get a clearer glimpse of what this means.


Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. [Colossians 3:23-24, ESV]

From this, we can see the basis of our Christ-centered work ethic: work heartily, as for the Lord… you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

In other words, no job is done in vain IF you’re doing it for the Lord. You can expect a reward. You are not serving your employer; you’re serving God.

You’re serving Him directly.

Believer, do you suppose that your work is in vain? I think that is probably the number one killer of a solid work ethic.

You show up to work every day and do the same things. If you’re a restaurant cook, you cook food. If you’re a cashier, you handle money. If you’re an accountant, you balance books. If you’re a construction worker, you build things. But day by day, your job is the same. It can breed monotony.

Inherent in most jobs is this danger: that you will begin to grow numb and dissatisfied in the routine. You will begin to believe that your job doesn’t really mean anything.

And if your job doesn’t mean anything, why does it matter if you do it well or not?

The world will teach you the lie that you can just sluff things off. It will lie to you, telling you to just do “the bare minimum” to get by.

Isn’t that amazing? There are two modes of operation that the world will try to shoe you into when it comes to the work ethic.

On one hand, it will encourage you to be a workaholic who seeks glory and self exaltation. But on the other hand, it will teach you to shirk your responsibilities and do the bare minimum.

Neither of these positions is Christ-centered.

The Christ-centered position is this: in everything you do, devote your best effort to it. Seek excellence. Do it not for your boss, your company, your school, your parents, or even yourself. Do it directly for God. Do it as though God is watching you at that very moment, because He is.

Are you taking classes at college? Seek to get top marks! Are you employed? Seek to do the best you possibly can!

If you’re a janitor, seek to be the best janitor the world has ever seen.

If you’re a cashier, seek to be the best cashier the world has ever seen.

If you’re a banker, seek to be the best banker the world has ever seen.

If you’re a car salesman, seek to be the best car salesman the world has ever seen.

But in your pursuit of excellence, be sure that you are weaving Christ into every moment. Be resolved to never pursue your own glory. Be resolved to never pursue your own exaltation.

When you really step back to consider the issue, you’ll actually find that the world’s approach to the work ethic is always self-centered. If you’re a workaholic, you’re pursuing your own glory. But if you take the “bare minimum approach,” which seems to be the exact opposite, you’re also pursuing your own glory.

The bare minimum approach is simply this: This job isn’t giving me enough (money, recognition, entertainment, etc.), so therefore I will do just enough to get by.

Both the workaholic and the bare minimum modes of work ethic are selfish and cannot look beyond the question, “What’s good for me?” They’re simply two sides of the same coin.

The worldly work ethic (or lack thereof) leads nowhere. It cannot look beyond the self. It is self-centered and short-sighted.

But a Christ-centered work ethic? That CAN look beyond the self. And it DOES lead somewhere.

When you go into work, consecrating your every task and duty to Christ will provide you with a surprisingly strong work ethic. When you aren’t burning yourself out trying to do everything in your own power, you will experience freedom.

Does this mean that work will always be a piece of cake? No. Work will still be tough. You’ll still have days you simply don’t want to be there.

But you will see freedom. You will see strength. You will be carried along by the Lord.

You’ll be carried along by the Lord because of this: everything you do is for Him. Not for you, not even for your employer, but for Him. He designed the world, and He knows that all types of labor are needed to make it function.

The clerk, the cashier, the stocker, the farmer, the banker, the CEO, the pilot, the doctor, the teacher, and the scientist… all are necessary. All have a place.

God can be honored in each of them.

Seek to honor God in your every action at work, and you will have locked into what it means to have a Christ-centered work ethic.

Working For a Reward

Scripture tells us that, when you work for God, you’re working for a reward.

Are you getting paid at work? Yes. Maybe you feel like you’re not earning enough, but that’s neither here nor there. If you’re employed, you’re working for a wage.

Are you getting knowledge at school? Yes. You might feel like it’s simply in one ear and out the other, but some of what you read and learn and hear will find its home in your mind. One of the foundations of a successful life is proper education.

Even work that doesn’t pay – that is, work around the house or work for a good cause – still yields a reward. Once you’ve fixed the staircase, the stairs don’t groan anymore. Once you’ve helped your elderly neighbor trim his bushes, he can see out the front window.

Money, knowledge, or progress – these are the rewards of work, right?

Yes. But there’s more.

If we go back to Colossians 3:23-24, we’ll read that we will receive “the inheritance” as our reward.

Do we really expect to work for God Himself and not get a reward!?

You see, God has great treasures stored up for those who serve, love, and seek Him. If you’re serving God in your work, you are working for an inheritance.

What’s an inheritance?

It’s something that you inherit from another person. It may be money, property, or some other valuable thing. If you’ve got a wealthy grandparent, for example, you might receive a large sum of money when they pass away.

God is promising us an inheritance here. What might this inheritance be?

We can be rest assured that it will be far more valuable than earthly money. Think of the largest sum of wealth you can, and then imagine something a million times more valuable than that.

That only begins to scratch the surface of the inheritance spoken of here.

In truth, we know that our God is vastly more wealthy than anyone on this Earth. He has created all things, including wealth. He knows you more intimately and personally than you know yourself.

Who better to receive an inheritance from?

Whenever we work, whatever we do, we ought to work heartily. We are not working for ourselves or our employer; we’re working for God Himself. And God promises us a reward for this hard work. We will not see the fullness of this reward this side of eternity, but we can be assured that our hard work will not go unnoticed or unrewarded.

This is why we should cultivate excellence. We are laborers for the Lord, and we should seek to reflect Him in all that we do. We should seek distinction and excellence, but not for our own sake.

Because of who God is, and what He has called us to do, let us seek excellence and work heartily in all things.

God bless!

Tagged : Bible / Christian work ethic / Cultivating excellence / Excellence / Serving God / Work ethic / Working for God

Choose Who You Will Serve

by JacobAugust 15, 2021August 15, 2021Christian Living

We face many choices in life. But the most important is this: you get to choose who you will serve. Will it be idols, or will it be the One True God?

“Now therefore fear the Lord and serve him in sincerity and in faithfulness. Put away the gods that your fathers served beyond the River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” [Joshua 24:14-15, ESV]

The ancient Israelites were a people of contradictions. On one hand, they saw the great and awesome signs performed by God Himself. They were delivered from Egypt by His very hand, sustained by Him in the desert, and led by Him in battle.

But on the other hand, the Israelites were disobedient. Time and time again, they turned to false gods and idols. Time and time again, they turned their back on God.

Much of the Old Testament can be summed up as the story of a loving God and His disobedient people. The Israelites strayed. They made mistakes. They walked away from the very Father who provided for them and loved them.

Jesus even lamented,

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.’” [Matthew 23:37-39, ESV]

Think about it: how often had the Israelites seen God’s faithfulness? When they wandered in the wilderness, manna and quail were provided to them every day like clockwork. When they entered the Promised Land, God delivered their enemies into their hands.

God spoke to them and ruled them directly.

But they backslid and turned away constantly. They had idols.

The Israelites, quite simply, are like you and me.

Wandering Hearts

There is something within every man and woman that causes them to wander away from God. This is nothing less than our sin nature.

Our sin nature causes us to seek our own path. It causes us to seek our own desires.

Do you ever have a desire within you that’s contrary to what God wants? Of course you do. We all do. Sin is anything that separates us from God – and sin is disobedience to God.

Every day, we are tempted to disobey God. Whether you’re a new Christian or a seasoned Christian, that doesn’t change. Temptations are always there.

And we will all fail the test sometimes.

Each day, we are presented with a question: who will you serve? We’re presented with this question many times a day.

A lustful thought enters your mind. Who will you serve?

You’re tempted to lie. Who will you serve?

You want to spend your money on something you know you don’t need. Who will you serve?

Just like the ancient Israelites – many of whom fell into the trap of serving other gods – we are tempted to turn our backs on God. We’re tempted to pledge our allegiance to our desires and our wants.

We are tempted to make idols for ourselves, serving these idols rather than our Father in Heaven.

Do You Have an Idol?

What is an idol?

An idol is anything in your life that you consider more important than God.

Sports can be an idol, as can physical fitness. Money can be an idol. Sex can be an idol. Power and achievement can be idols. Even family and friends and children, as precious as these people may be to us, can be idols.

Let me ask you a tough question: do you value your spouse or your kids (or your other family, if you’re single) above God? Odds are, you know the answer to this question. Idolizing your family – those you love most dearly in the world – is perhaps one of the most natural things you can do.

Now, is it wrong to love your family? Absolutely not. You are supposed to love them – it’s even commanded in the Bible. But your first and foremost love is always supposed to be God. Your love for God is the love out of which all your love for others – for friends, for family, for co-workers, for the poor, for the lost – is to be founded upon.

But loving someone (or something) before God is idolatry.

And when you have an idol, you will serve that idol.

If you idolize video games, for example, you’ll spend all your time and much of your money on them. You’ll invest your effort and your energy in them.

If you idolize money, your entire life will be focused on gaining more and more money.

Any idol you have – no matter what it is – will take the place of God in your life. Just like the Israelites, who went after other gods and other idols, you will be turning away from God and serving something else.

Why You Should Serve God

Joshua presented the wayward Israelites with an ultimatum: choose this day whom you will serve.

They had wavered back and forth, vacillating between serving God and serving idols. But their disobedience and indecision could be tolerated no more.

“Choose,” Joshua said.

In our lives, we are being called to choose between serving God and serving our idols. Jesus Himself says, in Matthew 6:24, that you cannot serve two masters.

To choose God is to choose against our idols. To choose our idols is to choose against God.

Here’s why we should choose to serve God.

1: Because He is Worthy.

This is the foremost reason as to why we should choose to serve God.

Our God is a worthy God.

The Bible tells us that God created the world and everything in it, including man (Gen. 1). God is the provider of salvation and the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). He is able to do exceedingly more than we could ever ask or imagine (Eph. 3:20).

God was under no obligation to provide us with a way of salvation. He could have left us dead in our sins and stranded in our trespasses. Yet God, rich in mercy and full of love, so loved the world that He gave us His only Son (John 3:16).

Revelation puts it succinctly by saying,

Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created. [Rev. 4:11, ESV]

Our God is the creator and sustainer of all things. Everything you see and feel and interact with – the sun and rain, the hills and mountains, the oceans and the air – was created by Him. And that same God wants a personal relationship with you and I.

Just let that sink in!

You would probably go slack-jawed if the president of the United States personally called you tomorrow morning and told you that he wanted to be your best friend. So how much more incredible is it that the almighty God – creator and sustainer of all life and all matter – wants to be your lord, savior, friend, and father?

God is worthy. Just for that reason, we ought to serve Him.

2: Because It’s Best For Us

One of the greatest things about God is that He, being the author and designer of humanity, knows us best.

Think about it: we go to see a doctor if we’re sick. We go to see a counselor if we’re dealing with mental health issues. Why is this?

Because these people have studied physiology and psychology. They know things that we don’t. A doctor is more capable than we are to diagnose a health issue. A therapist is more capable than we are to help us through anxiety or depression.

In a similar vein, listen to what Jesus says in Matthew 9:11: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.”

Jesus spoke these words to a group of Pharisees who reviled Him for spending time with sinners and tax collectors. The Pharisees, in all their self righteousness, thought themselves far above associating with such people.

But Jesus’ message was this: I am able to heal. I have come to heal the sick people. I have come to make them well.

God can make you well.

God is the “great physician,” the one who knows us intimately and knows our condition better than we do. He designed humanity, so is it any surprise that He would be the One most qualified to minister to us and help us? God knows us better than we know ourselves.

Don’t you want deep fellowship with this God? Don’t you want to side with the One who knows you, loves you, and can minister to you in ways that nobody else could ever dream of?

Serve God. It’s what is best for you.

3: Because Others Will Benefit

The kindest, strongest, and most influential people in my life have been Christians. These men and women seem to radiate a confidence and an assurance that nobody else can.

These people are like anchors in the waves; they are solid foundations in the midst of trouble. Jeremiah tells us,

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
  whose trust is the Lord.
He is like a tree planted by water,
  that sends out its roots by the stream, 
and does not fear when heat comes,
  for its leaves remain green,
and it is not anxious in the year of drought,
  for it does not cease to bear fruit. [Jeremiah 17:7-8, ESV]

Do you want to be a “tree planted by water?” The Bible tells us that Jesus provides living water, and that those who drink from Him will never again thirst.

If you choose to serve God with all you are and everything you have, you WILL be like a tree planted by the waters. When times of drought come, you’ll remain strong. You will be a place of shelter and safety and love for those around you.

Fathers, do you want to provide for your wife and children? Do you want the best for them?

Mothers, do you want the best for your husband and children? Do you want to be a place of strength and anchored help for them?

If so, I exhort you to serve God! Choose to serve Him, and you will be able to bear burdens and provide for others in ways that you wouldn’t be able to alone.

Closing Thoughts

If you’re a fellow believer, you will face the temptation to turn from God and seek your own way. Many of you may already be walking down that path that leads away from the Father.

But here’s the news I bring to you today: it is never too late to turn back.

That’s what repentance is: a turning away from sin and a turning towards God. Choose this day whom you will serve, and choose to serve the Lord. Choose to turn back to Him. Repent of your sin and idolatry, and turn back to Him.

He may not bless you with easier circumstances, a better job, more wealth, or solid health. He may not bless you with more friends or with that long-desired spouse or child.

But He will bless you… make no mistake!

You will be blessed with a strength and confidence that comes only from Him. You will stand strong in the day of trouble, even when it seems impossible to remain strong. You will bend in the wind of the storm, but you will not break.

When you choose to serve God, you must also choose to do so with all your heart. You must be committed to loving Him more than you love anyone or anything else. You must be committed to giving up all you have in this world to follow Him.

This may seem radical, and it is. This may seem like loss, and it is. Scripture says that the Kingdom of God is like a treasure hidden in a field. Once you find it, you sell EVERYTHING you have to buy that field! (Matt. 12:44)

Why sell all you have? Why give up your rights, your freedoms, your self-determination, your idols, your comforts?

Because these were never leading you anywhere good in the first place.

You see, serving other gods – money, fame, power, influence, friendship, relationship, sex, drugs, etc. – feels good in the moment. Your society is constantly bombarding you with messages to just cave in and seek these things. But in the end, the pursuit of these things leads to your ruin. It leads to your demise.

The pursuit of God leads only to life.

Give up what you have for God, and you will receive far, far more than you ever thought possible. Give up your life to Him, and you will find more life than you can possibly imagine.

That is what it means to serve God. It means you give up all you have, no strings attached, and that you come to Him without anything in your hand.

Here I am, Lord. Send me.

It means you sell (metaphorically) everything you have to seek Him. You seek Him and serve Him and love Him with all your heart!

Choosing to serve God is an invitation to choose to give up everything you have ever possessed. But choosing to serve God is also an invitation to inherit more joy, more life, and more love than you could ever possibly imagine.

Choose this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.

God bless you!

Tagged : Bible / Choice / Choose / Follow / Love God / Servant / Serve / Serve God

Should Christians Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

by JacobAugust 14, 2021August 14, 2021Christian Living2 Comments

Should Christians get the COVID-19 vaccine? This debate rages in churches all across the nation. Some view the vaccine as a tool for ending our worst pandemic in a century, while others see it as a tool of mass manipulation. In today’s post, we’ll examine the COVID-19 vaccine and how it applies to our lives as Christians.

To vax or not to vax, that is the question.

All across the nation, church pews are filled with the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. There are Christians who jumped at the first chance to get vaccinated, and there are also Christians who vehemently oppose it with all the force of a snowplow.

Our situation is not helped by the fact that there are leaders – even Christian leaders – who give us conflicting advice.

Get the vaccine! Some say.

Avoid it like the plague! Others shout.

With all the noise surrounding this extremely controversial and politicized shot, it can be difficult (if not nearly impossible) to get to the bottom of things.

But that’s exactly what we’re going to try to do today.

Today, we will ask ourselves this question: should Christians get the COVID-19 vaccine?

First Things First: Is the COVID-19 Vaccine Safe?

One of the most commonly-raised objections to the vaccine is this: is the vaccine safe?

Practically all medical scientists respond with a resounding yes.

Studies across the world have shown that the vaccine is remarkably effective in preventing severe illnesses. Such studies have been reviewed by countless universities, labs, governmental organizations, and independent investigators. The results of these studies have never been seriously challenged.

The vaccine is extraordinarily good at what it’s intended for.

Additionally, the COVID-19 vaccine poses almost no health risk to those who do get vaccinated. A common objection to the vaccine’s safety is that it was produced hurriedly – on a far, far shorter timescale than any other commercial vaccine in history – and therefore cannot be trusted.

The claim that it was “produced hurriedly” is true. Previously, the fastest vaccine to go from initial development to public rollout was the Mumps vaccine in the 1960s (source). That process took 4 years.

However, science has evolved significantly since then. Although the vaccines are unprecedented in both how they function and how fast they’ve been developed, severe side-effects seem to be extremely rare. The vaccines also contain no chemicals or added substances that may cause long-term side effects.

Reuters reports that there is a possibility that certain medical conditions are linked to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, but the occurrences of these side-effects are exceptionally few and far between.

In general, the risks associated with the vaccine are very low. Most over the counter drugs come with more health risks than the COVID-19 vaccine.

On to the Other Stuff: is the Vaccine Morally Acceptable?

Another commonly-raised concern among Christians is that the COVID-19 vaccine may be morally unacceptable. These concerns rest upon a few widely-distributed claims. Let’s examine them here.

1: The vaccines were developed from (and may contain) fetal cells of aborted babies.

If this claim is true, then the ethics of taking this vaccine would be severely called into question. Abortion is wrong (I fully intend to write an article on this subject soon), and therefore anything which comes about as a result of abortion is wrong.

Thankfully, the vaccines do NOT contain any material taken directly from aborted babies. However, the companies that make the vaccines did test the vaccines out on fetal cells.

These fetal cells were not taken directly from an aborted fetus, but they are descended from a fetus aborted many years ago. You can read more about it here, where they go into great depth on this issue. I highly recommend this reading.

To sum it all up, the vaccines were not created from aborted fetuses, and they do not contain any material derived from abortions. However, some of the cells used to test the vaccines are distantly descended from cells obtained via an abortion.

2: The vaccine IS – or is preparing us for – the Mark of the Beast

This is another concern that is common among the Christian community. We know the end times will feature something known as the “Mark of the Beast” that marks the followers of the Antichrist. Many believe this may be administered in the form of a microchip or an injection.

Some Christians today believe this vaccine either IS – or is preparing us for – the Mark of the Beast. These fears are only intensified when organizations such as schools, businesses, and airlines require vaccination.

Aren’t these “vaccine mandates” unprecedented? Don’t they scream of the same kind of control talked about in the Bible when it comes to the Mark of the Beast?

Although the vaccine mandates and the resulting pressure to get vaccinated may indeed be enough to spark fears of impending doom, they are not at all reminiscent of what will happen under the rule of the Antichrist.

When the Antichrist sets up his kingdom, he will intensely persecute all those who do not swear allegiance to him. This will occur along with (or even before) the mark is administered. As the Mark of the Beast is being rolled out, those who don’t bow before the Antichrist will be killed or driven off.

Furthermore, those who deny the mark and manage to escape the persecution will not be able to buy or sell. They will effectively be shut out of the economy of the world, and all of this in the aftermath of extraordinary persecution. Those walking around without the Mark of the Beast will be liable to capture, torture, and death.

Does that sound like what’s going on today?

Although the vaccine mandates may feel like an encroachment on our lives, they are not at all reminiscent of what will happen in the end times. Christians are not being jailed, persecuted, or killed in the United States. A refusal to take the vaccine will not cost you your life.

Additionally, there is no Biblical evidence to suggest that the Mark of the Beast will be shrouded in mystery when it is presented to the world. The mark is something taken (or refused) voluntarily. People will know what it is when the mark is offered. They will be certain of what it actually is. There will be no debate.

It will be impossible for someone to agree to take a vaccine, only to find out some time later that the vaccine was, in fact, the Mark of the Beast. If the COVID-19 vaccine were indeed the mark, there would be no debate as to whether it was the mark or not.

3: The vaccine represents the erosion of liberty in the United States

This is yet another huge concern among many Christians, particularly those of a more patriotic bent. One of the central pillars of the American existence is freedom. Freedom is something that our Founding Fathers fought hard to achieve and preserve.

To many, the enormous pressure to get vaccinated – and the rising frequency of vaccine mandates for employment, education, and entertainment participation – represents an erosion of our long-cherished freedom.

However, vaccines have been a part of American history for well over a century. Vaccine mandates are no different.

The first public vaccine mandate occurred in Massachusetts in the 1850s. This mandate ordered Smallpox vaccines for anyone seeking to enter schools. We’ve had other vaccine mandates across the United States, with as many as 20 states having some form of vaccination requirement to enter school by 1963 (Healthline).

Additionally, many workplaces have required vaccination against certain diseases as a condition of employment. Such requirements have existed for many years and have largely gone uncontested in the public eye.

Outside of school and workplace vaccine requirements, there have even been instances where the general public was ordered to get vaccinated for contagious diseases. The most well-known of these occurred in Cambridge, MA, when the city mandated Smallpox vaccines for all residents during a severe outbreak of the disease in 1901. A resident of the city refused the vaccine, and was subsequently fined $5 (around $150 in today’s money).

This resident took the issue all the way to the Supreme Court, arguing that the vaccine mandate violated his individual liberty and due process of law as protected by the 14th Amendment of the United States Constitution.

The court ultimately ruled against him and established a precedent that governments could indeed make vaccination compulsory.

While these examples do not necessarily provide a robust argument that vaccine mandates are righteous, they do provide precedent. Whenever one argues that liberty is being eroded, he or she must always have a past benchmark against which to compare the present state of liberty.

If there were no instances of vaccine mandates in the past, then there might be cause for concern. However, a quick glance at American history will reveal some surprising occurrences. Vaccines have been around for many, many decades, and vaccine mandates are almost as old as vaccinations themselves.

If we are to judge the “erosion of liberty” by this standard, then I would contend that we are not facing a crisis of liberty in this nation (at least not when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine). Rather, we’re in the midst of a public health crisis, and it is social media that has allowed faulty or even dangerous ideas to spread like wildfire.

Reasons TO Get the COVID-19 Vaccine

Now that we’ve examined the COVID-19 vaccine’s safety and its potential moral issues, let’s flip the table and look at this perspective from the opposite side: why SHOULD we as Christians get the COVID-19 vaccine?

There are a couple of potential reasons.

The first of these is to protect yourself. COVID-19 vaccines are available in most places for free. Getting the vaccine carries almost no risk, yet it is highly effective at preventing serious illness. If you’re elderly, immunocompromised, or work in a profession where contact with the virus is likely, getting the vaccine makes perfect sense to protect your safety.

Another reason to get the vaccine is to protect others. For those who are not elderly or immunocompromised, this is the single largest reason to get vaccinated. If you’re a healthy 30 year old, for instance, it is highly unlikely that COVID-19 will result in a serious infection.

However, you are still more than capable of transmitting it to others, and those people might not be so fortunate.

The Bible tells us to consider others as more significant than ourselves (Ephesians 2:3). In that vein, getting vaccinated makes perfect sense. It is a way of serving our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. We may not feel that getting the vaccine is necessary, but it does significantly lower the chance that we will pass the virus on to others.

Additionally, consider the state of the Church today. Millions of people are staying home because they fear being infected by the virus. Although virtual church services are certainly better than no service at all, they cannot be a replacement for physically gathering together with God’s people.

As we increase vaccination rates, the likelihood of virus transmission will decrease. Cases of serious disease will fall. More people will feel able to return to church, reconnecting with fellow believers and reigniting spiritual growth.

Conclusion

After some examination, the COVID-19 vaccine seems to harbor little (if any) cause for concern. It is a safe and effective product of modern medical science. Furthermore, getting the vaccine as a way of protecting yourself and others can be a very powerful way of expressing love and honor to your brothers and sisters in Christ.

At the end of the day, there is only one person who can truly decide whether you get the vaccine or not.

That person is you.

If it troubles your conscience to get the vaccine, then avoid getting it. But if you’re able to get the shot, please do consider getting it. The more people we have vaccinated, the better off we are.

Unfortunately, a large amount of vaccine resistance in the United States today seems to be coming from a place of stubborn pride. Those who refuse the vaccine often do so not out of legitimate concern, but out of thinly-veiled pride and hardheadedness. This is not a good reason to not get vaccinated.

If you’re a believer in Christ and you’re torn on the issue of vaccination, I would ask that you search your heart and spend a lot of time in prayer. Are you refusing the vaccine because your conscience troubles you? Are you refusing it out of legitimate concern?

Or are you refusing simply because you feel that you must “take your stand” against a perceived enemy?

Whatever you choose to do, please keep in mind the words of Romans 14:23: whatever is not of faith is sin. It is my hope that you can take the vaccine in faith, yet I recognize that you may not be able to do this. Above all things, seek to obey God in everything.

God bless, and stay safe.

Tagged : Bible / Christianity / Christians / Coronavirus / covid-19 / Get vaccinated / Pandemic / Should Christians get vaccinated / Vaccination / Vaccine

Are Drugs and Alcohol Sinful?

by JacobAugust 2, 2021August 1, 2021Christian Living

Drugs and alcohol have become points of debate in churches all over America. Are drugs and alcohol sinful? If so, why? We’ll discuss this issue here.

Continue readingTagged : Alcohol / Are drugs sin? / Bible / Drugs / Is drinking a sin / Marijuana / Sin / Sinful / Weed