Do you only need God when it’s convenient for you? Do you treat your salvation like a drive-thru restaurant and only show up when you need to be fed and always in a hurry? How convenient will it be when you stand before Jesus and he says I do not know you. It seems it was inconvenient for you to know me.
Salvation through Jesus Christ is not part-time, do it when I can, maybe later I’m busy now, let me see if I can fit in my schedule, I have something else more important to do. Just as Jesus Christ never treated one person like they were an inconvenience all the way to the cross in his last breaths he said to a sinner “assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” You should never treat Jesus Christ or the salvation and life he gave you as an inconvenience.
Salvation is more than believing in Jesus Christ. It is living like Jesus in every way he did every day. The only time inconvenience ever occurs with a Christian is if you are allowing things of the world to affect you and you put those things before God in some way. You allow the joy God commands you are to always to have even through trials (James 1:2-4 ESV) to be interrupted that causes your faith to become inconvenient to you. If you walk the walk and talk the talk just as Jesus did. Then it becomes your responsibility when you accepted the salvation that you will never be inconvenienced by your faith and then one day Jesus will say to you “assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in paradise.” Welcome, job well done, come on in I have a place that was made just for you.
I think back to when I was a baby Christian and probably all of use can remember using God like a vending machine. We put in our prayer token and we expect to have our prayer full filled when we push the button. Maybe we learned this because as small children it worked when we used our parents as vending machines for our desires so to speak. Until we can wrap our minds around the vastness of God’s love it’s hard not to fall into the habit of only bringing God into our lives when it is convenient or when we have a problem so great we don’t believe we can handle it ourselves. I ask myself who am I willing to give my life life up for? Who do I love so much that I would rather they live than myself. Even when we answer this question with a lot of care given would we actually follow through? Let’s say someone actually gave up their life for you. Now this person had a family of their own, a wife and two small children. How would you treat the remaining family members? Would you go out of your way to be a blessing to them every chance you got? I believe I would. I spent 25 years as a firefighter and medic and there were plenty of times that I know God kept us safe while working. We had our training and we did what we did mostly because we wanted to help people but we relied on our training and banked on our safety because we had trained to be safe in the mist of chaos. We don’t go into a fire thinking today I might die and leave my wife and kids with out a husband or father. Jesus went to the cross knowing what the day was going to bring. Then He Willingly give up his life to give all of us the opportunity for eternal life! The better we can wrap our heads around the love of God the less likely we will use God like a vending machine. Would you go to the remaining family members of the guy who saved your life for all your emergency needs because that’s the family who saved your life? Or would you find every way possible to Love the rest of his family in everyway possible for the rest of your life on this earth! I would hope we all would try and find anyway we could to be a blessing to his family. To understand the never waving, never yielding love of God should make us want to be like Him. To Love as He loved us even to His death on the cross. I have to think about this often as it is easy to love little but expect much from our family, friends, and coworkers and of God especially. If we all loved much as Jesus loved us to all we encounter what a wonderful world we would have. God would also be feeling the love because, if you do any of theses things to the least of my people you have done them to me. Following Jesus is going to cost you! Lord, thank you for the life changing gift of your grace and the opportunity to share our eternally life with you in your kingdom. I pray for your help in keeping me from using your love as a vending machine or putting you on the back burner. Don’t let a day go by that I miss the opportunity to show your love to who ever you bring into my day.
So true Vincent!
When people come to Jesus, it is all about them! Of course, we come to salvation to fill a need “we” have. However, just like John the Baptist, eventually we must decrease and HE must increase. Convenience must give way to commitment.
Thank you for that great example of expanding the knowledge of the message. I feel blessed that it found value for your desired participation to help create a greater understanding for others.
So true. Too many times, people, including me, have put God on the back burner