In the last few days, I've been contemplating whether or not I've consistently counted the cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've asked myself some difficult and challenging questions. Have I truly considered giving all for the sake of God's call or am I compromising God's will and call on my life for my own comfort and desires? Have I gotten so comfortable in this life that I am living more for me and "my" world, than for God and His eternal Kingdom?
If Jesus Christ truly is my Lord, Master, Savior, and King, then my life should be a verification of that. My life's motto should be the same as the Apostle Paul who said in 1 Corinthians 6:20 "You are not your own; you were bought with a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies."
When it is time to go home to be with the Lord, I don't want to go with a bunch of "What if's" in my heart, such as:
What if I had truly done unto others, as I would have them, do to me
What if I had forgiven everyone that had offended me and let go of the residue of those offenses in my life?
What if I had truly counted the cost and surrendered everything to the Lord including my time, my resources and my talents?
What if I had risked everything no matter what the cost to help get the gospel of Jesus Christ to every person who has not heard?
What if I had faithfully lived a life of faith and went beyond taking steps of faith to take leaps and dives of faith?
What if I had lived every moment in light of God's mercy seat and God's judgment seat?
What if I had done what I did for the glory of God alone and didn't look for affirmation from others for serving God?
What if I had actually believed the promises of Jesus and acted on them?
What if I had truly lived the commandments of Jesus?
These are just a few questions I am asking myself as I seek to challenge "me" to "Press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" as admonished by the Apostle Paul in Philippians 3:14. Wouldn't you agree that our God is worthy of all our love and service?
It is a good thing to evaluate where we are spiritually in our lives! We don't do it to condemn ourselves for what we haven't done or to lose heart over what we could have done better. We do it to exhort ourselves to go deeper in our relationship and service to the Lord Jesus Christ. After all, He gave His life so we could be saved from our sin and spend a glorious eternity with Him in heaven. Our worship and service are our response to the great and amazing love our Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ have already given us.
Why not, take a few minutes and ask yourself the "What if's"? If some changes need to be made, make them now! Don't procrastinate - or days, weeks, months and years could slip by before those changes are made. Or worse, they never get made at all! We don't want to waste any time in this life for things that don't matter. Right?
Let's pray for one another as we seek God's will for our lives and then go forward to fulfill it by His grace and power.
God bless you, Brian Weller
In the last few days, I've been contemplating whether or not I've consistently counted the cost of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've asked myself some difficult and challenging questions. Have I truly considered giving all for the sake of God's call or am I compromising God's will and call on my life for my own comfort and desires? Have I gotten so comfortable in this life that I am living more for me and "my" world, than for God and His eternal Kingdom?