Children of Obedience
Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Philipians 2:6-8
Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him; Called of God an high priest after the order of Melchisedec. Of whom we have many things to say, and hard to be uttered, seeing ye are dull of hearing. Hebrews 5:8-11
What is it to be "Christian"? Is it standing up in front of a bunch of people and saying you want to join a church? Getting Baptised? Attending church regularly? Having someone "lay hands" on you? Praying the "sinners prayer"? What does it take? Are you saved? Are you "Christian"?
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: Revelation 3:15-17
The Word tells us salvation is a free gift... it also says we were bought with a price and we are not our own. Salvation is Free in that we have done nothing to deserve it. " For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast." We don't DO anything to get saved, we only accept our salvation. Jesus did it all, Jesus paid it all. We are BOUGHT WITH A PRICE. We, if we are saved, belong to Him. We are "Christian" because we belong to Christ. He is our Lord and Master, we are His bond servants, slaves. That's a hard word SLAVE. But if you call yourself Christian you are His Slave. If you are too proud to be a slave you are too proud to serve Christ.
Jesus said "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" and again "Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another's feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." We can not call Him our Lord if we do not follow Him. The greatest example Jesus gave to us was the Cross. He was "obedient unto death" to the Will of GOD. Jesus said, on the eve of His crucifixion "Father, if thou be willing, remove this cup from me: nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done." and again He said "Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me."
We all serve. One way or another, one thing or another. We all serve. Even the most self willed, rebellious soul is a slave. A slave to Self. Jesus said "No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon." If we serve GOD we must do so without reserve. If we serve ourselves, our families, our jobs, our church, our country, anything other than GOD, our loyalty is split. Which will we love, which will we despise? You can not serve GOD and serve another, that is the definition of Idolatry. We don't have golden calves in our home, but we do have expensive cars in the garage. We don't go to the coliseum to see gladiators, but we spend billions on football. Jesus didn't say 'Give 10% to the church and enjoy the rest', He said "Feed my sheep".
"For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you." What Would Jesus Do? i'm sure you've heard that popular line. How many actually follow it? But to serve Jesus we MUST follow it. We have no choice, remember we are HIS. If we serve ourselves we are wicked servants. Jesus put it even stronger and more plain: "For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?" Jesus gave all, can we give less? To be obedient to the call, we must lose ourselves in Him. We must follow His lead, total obedience to the Will of GOD, without thought to ourselves, our careers, our comfort, our pride. We must be totally Sold Out to GOD if we are to be the Children of Obedience our Lord calls us to be.
This is not about religion, or even lifestyle. This is REALITY. GOD is GOD... are you going to serve HIM or not. That's what it comes down to. All the distractions of modern life are just that, distractions, created by the enemy to divert our attention. GOD is still GOD. HE created the universe by HIS WILL. HE set Jesus on the Throne of Glory and commanded every knee to bow before Him. HE created man to serve. There is no compromise, do you serve or do you rebel? Are you one of the Children of Obedience or will you be numbered with the lawless? There is no middle ground. This is all or nothing. Jesus is calling His sheep, do you hear His voice? Follow Him.
This is not a hard thing. GOD gives us everything. HE gives us Jesus as our example, HE gives us the Holy Spirit as our guide. He gives us grace and power to fullfill HIS Will. All we have to do is be obedient. GOD does it all for us, through us, if we only obey and give ourselves to HIM. (We belong to HIM already) To not obey is rebellion. HE is our GOD, our CREATOR, HE gave us life. In HIM we have our existance, and only in our rebellion do we pull away from HIM and lose the life HE freely gives. It is harder to die than to live, that took an act of willful rebellion. We turned our backs on the source of Life and try to find our own way. And GOD, seeing this, provided JESUS as a way of return to HIM and a return to Life. HE gives us every chance to return to HIM and Live. Yet we rebel. We take the hard road away from GOD. Hiding ourselves, we think, from HIM. Seeking our own life and losing it. There is only one Life and that is in GOD through our Lord Jesus Christ. Bought and paid for in His Blood, through His Obedience. Obey and Live.
Joel 3:14 "Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision: for the day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision." It is time to decide. No more games, no more excuses. Will you serve, or will you rebel. No more playing church, or calling yourself christian. Either we stand with Jesus or we burn with the Beast. Whats it going to be? The day of Lukewarm Christianity is over, get radical. Give your life for Jesus, He gave His life for you. Don't just stand up and say "I'm a Christian" stand up and BE a Christian.