We aren’t there yet but it isn’t far off. Many people make resolutions to lose weight or get out of debt but the problem with either of those is that most have gone into more debt for Christmas just a week ago and losing weight is something that most of us just don’t have the time nor the energy to devote to it. Can it be done? Sure, but if you don’t get serious about it and keep your eye on the prize of losing X-amount of weight, just like a smoker who hasn’t really decided to quit but they try…and they fail. Not because it can’t be done but because they weren’t truly determined to do it! Losing weight and getting out of debt are the same, unless you are focused on the end goal and keep your focus tight on it until it happens…it won’t happen.
Why do I sound as if I’m picking on those of us who make these resolutions? Because I’ve done it myself and failed miserably every time. Now, I’m going to ask you about your life spiritually. Where are you in your life with believing in Jesus as your Savior? If you have already decided that this person who wrote this is nuts and I’m not going any further in this post, then be on your way. But if you are interested in the possibility of an eternity that many of us have heard about but maybe we were afraid if we went to “that church” and even got saved, people would talk about us. What’s wrong with that?
If they are asking you about what you experienced and how you feel about your salvation, then tell them! That is exactly what Jesus said to His disciples when He was about to “go to the Father”. Tell every person about the good news, starting in Judea and then go to the whole world. That is why I’m using this medium to tell others. Because I don’t have the resources to go into all of the world! The world on the Internet can find my witness here and that is the best I can do. God will use the words which He gives me to write here to touch those who are truly in need of His saving grace.
Please consider seeking out Jesus as your Savior this year. Not one of us is guaranteed to even be alive tomorrow let alone this time next year. Be sure of your eternity and your destination in it because while you are here and alive you can change your destination. Once your life is over, the decision has been made and there is no second chance after death. You will face either a welcome or a judgement by Jesus, there is no area of “if”. You are either saved or you are not and it is cut and dried, black or white and no gray areas at all.
Before you complain, think about what you have. Before you look at someone with a critical eye, turn your gaze on your own life first. Before you come to the end of your life, make sure that dying is all that you have left to do. Life is too short to live it without enjoying it first. But the enjoying of life for some people means that there is sin in their lives. They don’t think that you can enjoy being a Christian. Enjoyment doesn’t seem to be part of their thought processes when they think of serving God or even being a Christian.
King David, the author of Psalms, enjoyed the Lord. He praised the Lord and danced and sang while he praised God. That doesn’t sound like a joyless person. That is not a depressed and sad person because God brings joy into your life. Think about the blessings which Jesus brings into your life when you are saved! He forgives ALL of your sins, He gives you a new heart for serving Him and others, He changes your outlook on life because of the blessings that you receive when you become an adopted child of God!
Those blessings in this life are not the only blessings that you get from Jesus and from knowing Him as your Savior. Your eternity and your destination in it has changed as well. When you were a sinner, and every person who has come to Jesus (including myself) is a sinner, your eternity would’ve taken you into an eternity of torment. The only difference between your sinful life and the one you have now is that you have Jesus in it. Some theologies say that we are not put in the lake of fire like Satan will be, but being separated from the love of God and His Presence for eternity would be punishment enough. There will not be anything life-giving in hell. No water, no food, no cool streams of any kind and God’s Presence will not be there either.
Remember the story of Lazarus and the rich man? Lazarus was taken to Paradise with Abraham and the rich man was in hell. He asked for Lazarus to bring him just one drop of water because of the agony that he was in. But Abraham told him that there is a gulf between us that no one can cross over. He even asked if Lazarus could rise from the dead and tell his brothers to repent and not come to this place, but Abraham said no, they have the Prophets and the Law. They wouldn’t repent even if someone were to come back from the grave.
Your life before giving your heart and soul to Jesus is very different from the one you will enjoy after bringing His Presence into your heart. That is the reason for leading a joyful life after Jesus has saved you and made you into a new creation, different and precious to Him and to the Father. Serve Him in joy because with God all things can be joyful regardless of how the world may look at them. He will give you the strength to get through every obstacle and every pain and your life will be a beacon of hope to someone until you go to be with the Lord.
All of the wonderful things which God has provided for us, which are given to us by God. We have no control over our health, for the most part, but He gives us our portion anyway. We do not have any control over how many days or weeks or years that we will live, but God does and He gives them to us anyway. Even when we are disobedient to His calling in our lives, He is faithful to give us the necessary things to get through each day. Even when we don’t acknowledge Him in our life, especially for the blessings which we have each day like the air that we breathe and the energy that we have to move from one place to another, God is still faithful.
Consider how we show our faithfulness. Some of us don’t go to church but we are blessed by God anyway. Some of us don’t honor the Sabbath by praising Him for our life through Christ, but God is still blessing us each day. Some days we wake up with more pains and other afflictions which hinder our lives and we blame Him for those days, but God is faithful to bless us with His healing in our lives anyway. When we blame Him or shout our frustration to Him in our prayer time, He hears it and He still gives us blessings which we may not notice.
Would you consider being in a relationship with someone who treated you in the same way that we treat God? I imagine that we would write that person off and never speak to them again, but God isn’t like that. He is not as we are. He is patient and kind toward us even when we aren’t. He gives us the air to breathe and the food which we put on the table. He gives us the ability to go out and work so that we can have food for our families. Everything that you have comes from His hand not yours. We should be grateful and thankful for each drink that we take and for every morsel of food that we eat not just on Thanksgiving but every hour of every day.
God is always faithful to His promises toward us so why aren’t we faithful to Him in our lives? When things are going wrong such as a diagnosis that says we don’t have long to live most of us run to His throne begging to be healed and spared from this. Then when the illness is healed we thank the doctor and the hospital staff and we go about our business as if nothing happened. We forget that it was God working through those people in our lives in order to bring our healing to fruition. But when the disease, like cancer, comes back with a vengeance we blame God for it rather than giving Him praise for His power to heal.
Be mindful of your relationship with God because He is always caring for you when you don’t even know it. Make it a habit to read His word and claim His promises each and every day so when those days which plague all men come upon us you can praise Him anyway, thank Him anyway and get through them anyway because He never leaves you nor forsakes you. Even when we are fickle in our faith toward Him, He is not. Praise the Lord for His mercies endure forever.
