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If I
asked you if you believed in Jesus you would probably say something like,
"Yeah, duh. I'm a Christian, a
follower of Christ." But are you? Do you really
believe?
In
Matthew 7:21 Jesus says, "Not everyone who says... but only he who
does..." You see, the Bible is
pretty clear that belief is much more than what we say.
Imagine
my family and I are going away on a month long world tour (maybe I should say
missions trip to seem more spiritual).
Dad has invited a young newlywed couple to house-sit for us while we're
away soaking up the sun in Spain (I mean saving souls in the Congo). Dad nominated me to create a list of all
things that need to be done around the house in our absence. I have written down all the necessary
information in a 15 to 20 paged notebook. It says things like, the cows need to
be moved into the next paddock every second day, the cats are fed twice a day,
customers' orders must be sent out daily that come from mine and my brother
Matt's home business (www.SimplyCleverToys.com). Also, I write a whole page
about how to feed and water my pet parrot.
At the back of the notebook I include all the emergency numbers just in
case any thing goes wrong. When I give
the notebook to the couple they commit to do everything it says.
Now,
imagine that after a month my family and I come back and the first thing we
notice is that one of the paddocks has not a single blade of grass left in it
and the cows look like they could fall over dead at any moment. As we continue driving down our driveway we
see two little grave sites next to each other where our cats have been
buried. After seeing what happened to
the cats I rush inside to see if my pet parrot has fared better, but to my
horror I find him on the bottom of his cage feet up. Then the young couple who have been
house-sitting come to me and explain how helpful the notebook had been. In fact they tell me that they have committed
parts of it to memory and that every night before they went to sleep they would
read the whole thing through. I can see
where they highlighted sections and made notes.
What am I going to say to this couple?
Well, Jesus said,"...Away from me, you evildoers!" (Matt
7:23) You see, they may have spoken
words of commitment, but there is no evidence that those words meant anything.
James in
the Bible puts it perfectly when he says:
What does
it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works?
Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily
food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and
filled,” but you do not give them the
things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? (James 2:14-16 NKJV)
So, you
say you believe in Jesus? I hear you, but when was the last time you fed the
hungry, visited those in prison, clothed the naked or cared for the orphans and
widows? What do you do when your friends
start gossiping about that girl at school?
What do you do when the movie you're watching keeps taking God's name in
vain?
Last
question - Do you truly believe in Jesus?
