Recently, as I was studying the book of Judges, I kept shaking my head in disbelief because throughout the 21 chapters a terrible trend kept happening. This same thing actually happens many times in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament, but this was getting out of control.
The people of Israel kept doing evil in God's sight. Then God would send leaders to straighten them out, then they would forget about God again. Over and over and over. Twice it says they abandoned God! And it made God mad! It actually says at one point He fought against the nation of Israel!
But how many times do we do the same thing? We cry out to God and He hears us and rescues us, then we continue to prostitute ourselves to the god of the moment. It may be money, anger, sports (teams), a relationship, or like me it may be mediocrity. Imagine if one of the disciples, maybe Paul, spent some time with us. He might say, "You know you got to man up, how quickly you turn away from God when things aren't going your way. You complain about what, freedom to worship God? Come on, get serious and stay focused, God is with you!!"
Just like God sent people to get the Israelites back on track God does the same thing for us. He sends people with a strong walk with Him to get us out of a rut and get us back on the right track, because God wants you to have a solid and joyful relationship with Him. But then we can start to depend too much on those people. We look to our leaders and their relationship with God instead of becoming disciples ourselves. We would rather let others fight our spiritual battles while we stay in sin, be stubborn, be a spectator and always say, "Man, I wish I could be like that," but we never do anything about it.
"I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready..." 1 Corinthians 3:2
"I had to feed you with milk, not with solid food, because you weren’t ready for anything stronger. And you still aren’t ready..." 1 Corinthians 3:2
We won't get off the milk and start eating the meat. Bible studies, small groups and worship nights are great, but we are relying on others for our walk with God. Yes, you should allow these people in your life to encourage and challenge you, but when are we going to take that step for ourselves? When are we going to stop the trend in our own lives, strong with God one day or two, then the next week wavering in our faith? When will we speak up and say to our self: "Self, WAKE UP!!! Get Serious!!!"
Our world is getting worse and our churches are complacent. We need to step up and be disciples - and then go make disciples. Stop taking God on this roller coaster ride and help others stand strong! He wants to be your God!!! We need to stop taking our relationship with God for granted. We wonder why we stay stagnant. We get ourselves into predicaments because we allow our sinful desires to control us. Don't let your sinful nature rule you, you must conquer it!
"You have been believers so long now that you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things about God’s word. You are like babies who need milk and cannot eat solid food. For someone who lives on milk is still an infant and doesn’t know how to do what is right. Solid food is for those who are mature, who through training have the skill to recognize the difference between right and wrong.
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding." Hebrews 5:12 - 6:3
So let us stop going over the basic teachings about Christ again and again. Let us go on instead and become mature in our understanding. Surely we don’t need to start again with the fundamental importance of repenting from evil deeds and placing our faith in God. You don’t need further instruction about baptisms, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. And so, God willing, we will move forward to further understanding." Hebrews 5:12 - 6:3
We must start teaching others. Use your Bible studies and other activities to encourge and challenge one another. We must, must step up and stop crawling - get out of our diapers and be followers of Christ! You may be thinking, "But God is telling me to just get over the past and know that He loves me." The trouble is we know that and we stay there. Yeah, God loves you so...but don't stay still!! Use that love that was freely given to you and pour it out on others! You will grow and mature in your faith when you help others grow in theirs.
Be blessed,
Steve
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