HOLDING FAST TO JESUS
Deuteronomy 13:4 It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him.
Exodus 12:41 tells us that the Hebrews were in Egypt for 430 years. Not all that time were they slaves, but all that time they were around to the worship of other gods. Think how hard it is sometimes to have the children of passionate Christians to be passionate Christians too. Every often these children even turn away from the faith in Jesus that they witnessed in their parents and other Christian families. With each new generation there has to be new commitments to Christ on a personal basis. There are no grandfather clauses to entering heaven. Just because grandpa, grandma, dad or mom were passionately in love and dedicated to Jesus does not entitle someone else to enter heaven because of them.
Jesus even warned of this fact in Matthew 7:15-23 where it says, “Watch out for false prophets. They will come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them. Not everyone who say to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!” Well, if you didn’t pick up on it, Jesus was talking about preachers that he never knew! They preached every Sunday in church and even cast out demons in Jesus name, yet Jesus said he never knew them. How could that be? The reason is that those preachers had their Christian life based on service and a job, rather than a relationship!
From the beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden, God wanted a personal relationship his creation. It was common for God to come and walk and talk to them in the Garden of Eden. God is more than capable of doing this with them and everyone if we only allow him into our everyday life. He will walk with us and talk to us if we only practice his presence. He is there, all we have to do is recognize him and enjoy him all day long. Most Christians don’t enjoy his presence, because they simply don’t actively include him in their day or even life.
God did not create us as simply entertainment for him. He created us for a personal loving caring relationship.
As parents and grandparents we can’t but help influence our children and grandchildren whether they are children or even adults. They love us and they consciously or unconsciously desire to be like us. But this is not enough for them to want to become a Christian, and have their own personal relationship with Jesus. We must help them to come to know, love and appreciate Jesus for themselves. We need to help them develop their own personal relationship with Jesus, and not just some stories in the Bible! This is not a one day undertaking, but a life long one. Granted as they become older certainly our help for them has to be adjusted with possibly tack, love, understanding and certainly patience. But doesn’t God do this with all of us? It seems as we read about the Hebrews they continually turned from the Lord to worship idols, but God didn’t give up on them. Although there were times when it appeared very close, God stayed the course with them and so we must with those we love.
We can not make people love Jesus, but we can keep praying for them! God hears our prayers, and while he will not force himself on anyone making them to become a Christian, he will continue to draw them simply because we ask him to. In today’s world there are many things that can draw us away from Jesus. The world has all kinds of idols to give us to become wholehearted for. They can be as important to us as our family, a job and friends. They can be as seemingly unimportant as entertainment to sleeping in on Sunday. The thing is in God’s thinking only he can be God in our life. This is not to say the other things can not be important to us, but the bottom line is what is it that we will never be willing to give up or compromise for? This is where today’s scripture and standing firm in Ephesians 6:13,14 bring the point home strong.
Deuteronomy 13:3b,4a says, “The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul. It is the Lord your God you must follow, and him you must revere.
Prayer: Holy Spirit, please help us to stay true to Jesus and stand firm in our commitment and love for him. We ask this in Jesus’ name.
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