This week I want to start off with some verses from God’s word, “But now I am coming to you, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them your word, and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. I do not ask that you take them out of the world, but that you keep them from the evil one. They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth. As you sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world. And for their sake I consecrate myself, that they also may be sanctified in truth. “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one,” John 17:13-22
I see so often in the church today that so many people believe that a relationship with Jesus is just for when we are dead and gone. We have come to this belief that being a Christian is for Sunday morning and when we die, but as you can see in these verses Jesus says that being a follower of Him is not just for when we are gone, but also so we can have a relationship with Him here on earth. Being a follower of Jesus is a lot more than coming to know Him, then going and living like we did before we met Him. Then waiting until we get to heaven to have a real relationship with Jesus. He did not come so that we could just know Him in the future when we die. He came because He wants a relationship with each and every human here on earth and that is also our purpose that we may point everyone to Him. So many think being a Christian is more like a forever fire insurance plan, than what it really is a forever relationship with God and should start right here and now. We are to be His hands and feet here on earth to show love to the world, to give the gift of love to the world, and to be sanctified through Him. We should be striving to be more like Jesus and less like us every day that we live. We should try to be a mirror that is pointing toward Jesus, so that when people see us they see Jesus in our place doing His will here on earth.
I hope that these verses make you think about how God could take every new Christian home to heaven every time someone new got saved, but He doesn’t, because being a Christian is not for some time in the future when we die, but it is for right now. The definition of being a Christian is to be a follower of Christ, but not just to follow Him into eternity, but also to be his hands and feet here on earth and that may mean that the world will hate you. We have become a society of weekly Christianity, we want to get all our spiritual growth one or two times a week and we wonder why we do not feel or see God moving in our lives. It is because we expect the pastor at our churches to intermediate between us and God to see what God has for us. When we are able to be with Him anywhere without anyone’s help, we as Christians have the Holy Spirit inside us, we just have to foster our relationship with Him. A branch that never depends on the tree for nutrients will be weak, but a branch that depends on the tree will be strong. Church is not supposed to be the only time we spend with God, but just where we start to spend time with God every week.
So this week, know that a relationship with Jesus is not just for the future, it is for right now! Also, He destroyed the rift between us and God, not so we could have our pastor cross it to see what God is doing and how we are to grow, but so we can cross it and come boldly to the throne room of God. God gave us the Bible, that gives us wisdom and knowledge on how to live, that is always showing us new things about Himself. We can choose to have the same size faith in 3 years as we have right now or we can choose to grow our faith with Him in this moment. He is calling all to Him, will you answer?