Remember our history, friends, and be warned. All our ancestors were led by the providential Cloud and taken miraculously through the Sea. They went through the waters, in a baptism like ours, as Moses led them from enslaving death to salvation life. They all ate and drank identical food and drink, meals provided daily by God. They drank from the Rock, God's fountain for them that stayed with them wherever they were. And the Rock was Christ. But just experiencing God's wonder and grace didn't seem to mean much—most of them were defeated by temptation during the hard times in the desert, and God was not pleased.
The same thing could happen to us. We must be on guard so that we never get caught up in wanting our own way as they did. And we must not turn our religion into a circus as they did—"First the people partied, then they threw a dance."
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
Suppose you got a new car… the car of your dreams. You proudly drove it everywhere… even invited your friends to take a ride and enjoy how smoothly it drove. Everyone noticed your new car, and you felt like a different person when you were seen in it. Then the car ran out of gas… and you parked it in the garage and left it there. You still had a new car… but you went back to your old methods of getting around. A few people asked about the car, and you shrugged and said, “Yeah… I’ve got it, but gas takes money, and it’s a lot of work to keep it clean and running well, so I just parked it in the garage. It’s safe and clean there... I just don’t take it out often.”
Do you see my point? What good is a new car if you are not going to fill it with gas, maintain its engine, and drive it? And the same can be said of our faith. Many of us make a “salvation decision” – we invite Jesus to live in our hearts, and we get all excited for a while. Then the “gas” runs out, and we park our faith and return to our old habits. We don’t feed our relationship with Christ through prayer, Bible study, fellowship with others and actual service.
Equally as bad, we Christians often do a poor job of nurturing and encouraging others as they grow in their faith walk. We are so glad to add another name to the roll at church – and to increase our numbers. But I have long maintained that church growth is a good thing… if you take care of everyone who is already in the church body. Otherwise, we are just piling up “cars in the garage.”
So my challenge for each of us today is this…
- We must continually strive to grow and learn as Disciples of Christ. We must study the word of God… spend time with Him in prayer… and exercise our faith by serving God, sharing the Good News of Jesus with others, and genuinely caring for those we encounter.
- We must nurture and encourage others – believers and unbelievers alike. We must be awake and alert… always looking for ways to serve others in God’s name. We must make sure that others know that we care… and that we are willing to make the effort to help them as needed. Mere lip service is completely unacceptable.
©2012 Debbie Robus
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