Is saying 'no' to good things a good idea?
My walk with Christ has been changing. You see, all of us have
things in our lives that we don't like. Things that we know are
getting in the way of our relationship with God.
When I was a
child, I used to dream that one day I would be a strong Christian. I
saw Godly people speak and live their lives for Christ, and all I
could think was that one day I wanted to be like that. But I thought
it would never be possible.
But how foolish it is to dream
that one day we will be who God wants us to be. How absurd to think
that in the future we will have conquered that sin that plagues us.
How silly it is to dream of who I might be one day if I am not taking
steps NOW to BE that person. The Holy Spirit is here now, he's
empowering us NOW!
Self discipline has all but disappeared in the church. We are so
scared of stepping into legalism that we avoid taking action against
our sin by taking drastic steps to grab it by the horns and uproot it
from our lives!
K. P. Yohannan expressed it nicely in a sermon
I listen to often (get ready for a long quote)
“But I'm here
to tell you that the call of Christ is not just to be informed, but
to do something about it. I mean, you are bombarded with information.
You get enough spiritual information in one week that people in India
and China don't get in 5 years! How blessed we are! But let's not
fool ourselves...that doesn't mean we are impacting the world. But
how we need to realize that we are headed toward eternity and that is
not a thousand miles away from now, it is the next minute. And Jesus
lived like that... The reason why we in America with all the
teaching, all the music, all the stuff going on, our lives are
shallow. Still struggling with sin, and struggling in our private
thought life with things we know are not pleasing to God. And the
lack of victory in your life. Lack of authority of God in your life.
Seeking to please man rather than God...Why is it? Why is it? It is
simply because we do not want to accept the cross of Christ into our
lives. Cross means self-denial. Giving up our own wishes and dreams
for the sake of the cross, for the sake of Calvary. And that's what
we are missing here! That is the reason with all the stuff we miss so
much of reality! When will we learn?! What does it take for us to
learn?! The call of Christ for us is, As the Father has sent me, so
send I you... The call of Christ is to DIE not to LIVE! You must, by
the grace of God make a decision. “Lord, I want approval from you
and no one else.” So much of Christian work originates in the flesh
and carnality. I know, those are strong words. Unless you are
sensitive to the Lord, you can easily misunderstand. We have a
problem in America, in our church. We misunderstand obedience for
legalism and bondage. I am telling you. I am telling you. The day is
soon coming when you will regret and repent. Too late it will be
over the debased life we spent for ourselves here. The world out
there, they do not know Jesus. And our priority number one. Number
one must be “Lord, I love you, and as a result of that I give ALL
to touch the lost world!””
There is so much meat in his words that we can so easily just skim
over because we have heard it before. But have you allowed the truth
of the cross of Christ to sink into your heart? You see, there will
come a day when all of humanity will stand before Christ and have to
give an account for how they lived their lives. Sure, you have every
right to spend your life working to get ahead, finding a significant
other and building a family, going on vacations and achieving your
dream home, saving for retirement and crossing things off your bucket
list.
BUT THESE THINGS HAVE NO VALUE WHEN WE STAND BEFORE
GOD!
There are billions of people heading towards eternity in hell
and we act as though we are living in a video game. There is no
do-over, people! We have but one life!
Only one life, 'twill
soon be past.
Only what's done for Christ will last.
So is the practice of saying 'no' to things, even good things, a
good idea?
If it brings glory to God, YOU BET IT IS!
In my
own life I am growing horrible uncomfortable with the way I spend my
time, my finances, and my talents. So much of it is in vain. So much
of it reflects a heart that is living in an earthly kingdom and that
is totally blind to the heavenly one I claim to be a citizen
of.
Imagine what the church in the west could do if it
spent as much money as it spends on vacations, cars, gadgets, houses,
and clothing on the mission of God instead. On caring for the
poor. On supporting missions and missionaries.
Have you thought about the possibility of God calling you to reach the lost in another part of the world? Or have you written it off as uncomfortable? Maybe you think you are in no place to serve God in that capacity because of your job, your family, or your lack of Bible knowledge. But should those things really be what holds us back?
I'll say it
again
Only one life, 'twill soon be past
Only what's done
for Christ will last.
How do you use your finances? How do you
use your talents? How do you spend your time? How are you edifying
the church? How are you telling others about the hope they can have
in Christ? I am asking myself the same questions and finding I come
up drastically short.
Lately I have been adopting the practice
of self-denial for the sake of glorifying God and I am amazed at the
way God has been moving in me.
I just came off of over 40 days of
only eating fruits and vegetables in order to work on self control
and only wearing sweat pants and three t-shirts in order to work on
vanity. I don't say this to bring glory to me. I say it to encourage
you all. I AM CHANGED! God re-wired my head. I loved the intimacy
with God so much that I am beginning the next 'no.' This needs to
become a regular practice in my life. Where are the things standing
between me and God right now? How can I discipline myself to change
those things right now? Even if the thing that gets between you and
God is a 'good' thing, if it is stopping you from being who God wants
you to be or causing you to sin, it is better to cut it off than for
it to drag you into hell (Matthew 5:29-30).
I know that some
people may view these words as condemning, but that is not my objective. I pray that these words bring Godly conviction through the Holy Spirit. Not just for you but for me. We are blind! We are so
absorbed by the surrounding culture that we have made it theology! I
need to wake up. We need to wake up.
“We misunderstand
obedience for legalism and bondage. I'm telling you. I'm telling you.
The day is still coming when you will regret and repent. Too late it
will be over the debased life we spent for ourselves here. The world
out there, they do not know Jesus. And our priority number one.
Number one must be “Lord, I love you, and as a result of that I
give ALL to touch the lost world!””
