A physician
examines us- weight, blood pressure, heart rate – determining if we are in good
health. He will make recommendations based on his observations.
“Stop smoking.” “Start a regular exercise regimen.” “Change your
diet.” “Lower your stress levels.” His advice is sound, but it is
up to you and me to put it into practice. We can, and many of us do, walk out
of our annual physical exam and go right back to our old habits. Often we know
we ought to make different choices. We might even feel the impact of an
unhealthy lifestyle, but a kind of inertia keeps us in the same old
patterns until . . . the first heart attack!
Spiritual
health demands choices of us. If we believe that we will become people
who love, who live joyfully, who are growing a deep faith,
who consistently serve others, who hear, know and listen to the
voice of the Spirit simply by accident or good luck we are playing games with
ourselves. A few superficial adjustments to life will not make us mature
followers of Christ, either. Just going to church a couple of times a
month, keeping a Bible on your coffee table in the living room, or saying a
quick prayer before drifting off to sleep is not the stuff of a vital Christian
experience. Jesus issues an invitation. “Come, follow Me,” He says. “If any
of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition,
shoulder your cross, and follow me. If you try to keep your life for yourself,
you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of
the Good News, you will find true life." (Mark 8:34-35, NLT)
The most basic
issue is determining Who is god in your life. Are YOU god or is
there an Eternal, Almighty Being to be served? That may sound silly to
you, but it is the question. Joshua put it in these terms when he
was speaking for the last time to God’s people: "Now fear the LORD and
serve him with all faithfulness. … But if serving the LORD seems undesirable to
you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods
your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose
land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
(Joshua 24:13-15, NIV)
A person can
ignore God altogether or practice a superficial kind of Christianity for
decades with little observable consequence just as a person can abuse his
physical body, year after year, with no discernable health problems. But,
sooner or later, the harvest comes. The irrefutable law of that harvest is this
- "What a person plants, he will harvest.” The Word
goes on to explain – “The person who plants selfishness, ignoring the needs
of others—ignoring God!— harvests a crop of weeds. All he’ll have to show for
his life is weeds! But the one who plants in response to God, letting God’s
Spirit do the growth work in him, harvests a crop of real life, eternal life."
(Galatians 6:7-8, The Message)
Some days the
disciplines of the Christian life will seem pointless. The path of least
resistance will call you seeming to offer so many rewards. But, the promise of
the Father is that those who walk with Him will find life to the
full. Here’s the word from the Word. I pray that the Living
Spirit will give us ears to hear the invitation to spiritual health. We "always
to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning
God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and
through belief in the truth. He called you to this through our gospel, that you
might share in the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ." (2 Thessalonians
2:13-14, NIV) "But the Lord is faithful, and he will strengthen
and protect you from the evil one. We have confidence in the Lord that you are
doing and will continue to do the things we command. May the Lord direct your
hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance." (2 Thessalonians
3:3-5, NIV)
Choose life!
Choose joy! Choose to live in love and with the love of the Father!
Jerry D. Scott, Pastor
FAITH DISCOVERY CHURCH
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