Continuing to share lessons learned from GFG this year! Praying God teaches you as He did us.
Christianity checklists. Ever made one? Had one? I definitely had one before I was saved. Don't do "these certain things" and I'm good. You know the bad sins that everyone thinks about. I think the list varies for everyone. Do "these certain things" and I'm also good. Fill in the blank there too. Some of mine were:
1. Go to church-check.
2. Christian friends-check.
3. Leader in my youth group-check.
4. Go to a Christian college-Almost...boy was my mom mad when I backed out on that one.
You get the point. Follow a few rules, live a "good" life and you're in. Into Heaven I mean. Good with God. Saved? Hmmmm. I guess the problem begins when we start looking at our lives as a whole, not in pieces. For me, I had different lives-church life, school life, dating life, friend life. I lived certain ways depending on the circumstance. Was my so-called Christianity walking with me in all of those parts of my life? Or just the ones I okayed? The truth was at that point in my life-the teenage years and there after-God was only allowed in certain areas of my life, at appropriate times. Like at church on Sundays. Sometimes He'd get in the way through the week...start working on my heart about decisions He wanted me to make concerning really following Him, but I'd turn the music up in my car a little louder (trashy stuff of course-God was only allowed in my car some days) and tune Him out.
The problem with checklists is they don't prove anything. They're human made. God even says in Isaiah 64:6 "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." He's not worried about our acts, our checklists, our countless good deeds-He's worried about our hearts. Going to church and reading the Bible occasionally did not mean I was saved. I had a heart problem.
In Matthew chapter 4 it talks about how Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him. Jesus says, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." And you know what happened? It says, "At once they left their nets and followed Him." At once. Not tomorrow. Not when I get out of school, get married, get my life together. They dropped everything immediately, turned from the lifestyle they were living and started following Christ. Total surrender. No checklists needed.
Jesus calls for total surrender of our lives. Mark 1:15 says "Repent and believe the good news!" He asks us to confess our sins and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Think about it. Jesus died for YOU. He died to save you! He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you.
Jesus wants total control over our lives. Not pieces of it. All of it. We can't confess to believe in Him and then go back to our old lifestyles and just "follow some rules". When we hand over control of our lives to Him-He changes us completely. Transforms our lives. Gives us purpose.
Get rid of the checklists! They're no good. Pour out your heart to God, give over your life and you will NEVER be the same.
Lea :)
Christianity checklists. Ever made one? Had one? I definitely had one before I was saved. Don't do "these certain things" and I'm good. You know the bad sins that everyone thinks about. I think the list varies for everyone. Do "these certain things" and I'm also good. Fill in the blank there too. Some of mine were:
1. Go to church-check.
2. Christian friends-check.
3. Leader in my youth group-check.
4. Go to a Christian college-Almost...boy was my mom mad when I backed out on that one.
You get the point. Follow a few rules, live a "good" life and you're in. Into Heaven I mean. Good with God. Saved? Hmmmm. I guess the problem begins when we start looking at our lives as a whole, not in pieces. For me, I had different lives-church life, school life, dating life, friend life. I lived certain ways depending on the circumstance. Was my so-called Christianity walking with me in all of those parts of my life? Or just the ones I okayed? The truth was at that point in my life-the teenage years and there after-God was only allowed in certain areas of my life, at appropriate times. Like at church on Sundays. Sometimes He'd get in the way through the week...start working on my heart about decisions He wanted me to make concerning really following Him, but I'd turn the music up in my car a little louder (trashy stuff of course-God was only allowed in my car some days) and tune Him out.
The problem with checklists is they don't prove anything. They're human made. God even says in Isaiah 64:6 "all our righteous acts are like filthy rags." He's not worried about our acts, our checklists, our countless good deeds-He's worried about our hearts. Going to church and reading the Bible occasionally did not mean I was saved. I had a heart problem.
In Matthew chapter 4 it talks about how Jesus called Peter and Andrew to follow Him. Jesus says, "Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." And you know what happened? It says, "At once they left their nets and followed Him." At once. Not tomorrow. Not when I get out of school, get married, get my life together. They dropped everything immediately, turned from the lifestyle they were living and started following Christ. Total surrender. No checklists needed.
Jesus calls for total surrender of our lives. Mark 1:15 says "Repent and believe the good news!" He asks us to confess our sins and believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins. Think about it. Jesus died for YOU. He died to save you! He loves you so much that He was willing to die for you.
Jesus wants total control over our lives. Not pieces of it. All of it. We can't confess to believe in Him and then go back to our old lifestyles and just "follow some rules". When we hand over control of our lives to Him-He changes us completely. Transforms our lives. Gives us purpose.
Get rid of the checklists! They're no good. Pour out your heart to God, give over your life and you will NEVER be the same.
Lea :)