Christianity

Christianity.

What does it mean to be a Christian? Is the only requirement to become a Christian saying a prayer? Is it more? Is it less? Jesus’ call to the disciples was a simple one, “follow me.” In this, I mean that it was simple in wording, but difficult to execute. Jesus was calling people to leave everything, their jobs, families, comforts, home, and friends for a man that they did not know. To obey this call required that they step out in faith. Luke 14:24-32 talks about the cost of discipleship. “Now great crowds accompanied him, and he turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.” 

Jesus starts with the statement that if you do not hate your family you cannot follow Him. The word used here does not mean hate as we think of it, it means to have such a great love for one that all else pale in comparison. We are to love God so much more than anyone or anything else that He is all that matters to us. That our relationship with Him is absolutely essential in our lives. That no one can come between us and God because we love Him so much. 

He then follows up that line with one of the worst sale pitches of all time, He tells us that we cannot follow Him if we don’t carry up our own cross and follow Him. We are not to carry a literal cross, but we are to put to death our own desires, our own plans, and make this life about Him. We are to put ourselves to death. We are not to live our own lives, we are to live to have God live through us, a life to bring Him glory. As Paul says in Philippians 1:21, “to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Whether we live or die, we are to give God the glory. If we live, then amen and may we seek the King and bring Him glory through having Him live through us. And if we die, then amen and we have eternity with our Father and King! We are to be excited to be with Him. We should desire His return. Death has no sting over us. Christ has conquered death. This is also to say that we must be willing to give it our all for Christ. Even to death. This is one of the cores of Christianity. If we are not willing to listen to this command we cannot be disciples of Christ. Jesus Himself says this. 

The last part of this is that we must count the cost of Christianity. Christianity is not free. It costs something. It costs your life. Your messed up, miserable, life that does not ever leave you satisfied. No matter how successful you are on this world, you always seek a little more. You always want or need a little more money, you always want a little more alcohol, you always want a little more drugs, a little more self inflicted pain, a little more reputation, a few more friends, a little more sex, a little more fun, a few more good deeds, a little more knowledge. You desire more in your life, you are never satisfied. Only the One who made you can satisfy you. 

Romans 10:9- “if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” This is a requirement to be saved. But, confession and belief are actions, you must put this faith in action. You cannot say you believe, you must believe fully, with everything you are and do. This belief must shape your life. Jesus must be King of your life. You must have an intimate relationship with Him. You cannot possibly know Christ and not be changed. He must change your life in such a powerful way. You cannot be the same as you were. Regardless of how “good” you were before you came to faith in Christ, you still need to change. You still need a Savior because you have failed at least once in your life. 

The name of Christianity means to be a follower of Christ, we are His people. We boast a relationship with the King of Kings. We boast freedom from sin. Yet, we so often live lives in sin, disconnected from our King, following our lusts and our plans rather than the holy God. We rarely spend times in prayer, we rarely read the Word, we love our sin, we live for ourselves. I have to wonder, family, are we truly Christians if this is what we do and live like? Truly think and pray about this as to see what God shows you. Examine your own life and see where you are. If you are on track then AMEN! Continue in the faith my brothers and sisters. God has some sick plans for you, continue to seek Him and open yourself to being used by Him for His glory. If you are not where you need to be, you must figure out if you are willing to fulfill the costs that are required, if you are then amen, today is the day of salvation and now is the time to change and grow in Him. It is time to be sold out for Him. However, some will choose not to follow, for you, my soul aches, because I know what you are missing out on. I know you won’t find what you seek unless you seek a lack of satisfaction and emptiness. For you myself and many others pray for. But you will follow your way. Just know that God loves you and desires a relationship with you, there is a reason you are reading this. There is a message that God has for you. I challenge you to challenge God, see what He does in your life and how He reveals Himself to you. See what happens then go from there. 

Belief in God needs to completely impact your life. It needs to change everything about and your belief in God needs to be your core belief. Everything you do needs to reflect this belief.

Blessings family