reading | considering the word

Do we really need to read our Bibles, pray, worship, spend time with God? Does that stuff actually matter? Does it make us saved? Does it change anything?

Things I’ve heard lately: “How do I know if I’m saved?” “I don’t need to raise my hands in worship. God knows how I feel.” “I don’t need to read my Bible, I feel saved.”

Now, let me be clear right up front. John 3:16 says whoever believes in Jesus will have everlasting life. It says if we believe, then we are saved. I will never say that anyone is not saved if they don’t perform. The Lord indeed knows our hearts.

However, when Jesus told people to follow Him, He would ask them to give things up. Some gave up families, jobs, and homes. He asked the rich, young ruler to give up his wealth. And he always told people to repent. He never said that anyone could just go on sinning. He very clearly told the woman caught in adultery, “Go, and sin no more.”

We don’t believe in Jesus without knowing Him and if we truly know Him then we understand that He is not ok with us just living any kind of way we want. No, He doesn’t expect us to come to Him in a perfect state. What He does expect is that we spend time with Him and allow Him to change us, mold us, and grow us into the person He wants us to be.

How does this happen?

I can say that I’m married to my husband, but if I never spend time with him, how can I know him? If I don’t have conversations with him, then I will never learn anything about him. If we never spend time together, then we won’t grow closer together. What if I live somewhere else and choose to maybe call him twice a year? What kind of relationship would we have then?

And if we told you we were married, but we were never affectionate, we never saw each other outside of the church, never talked outside of the church, and didn’t even write letters or emails to one another or read each others writings, then would you really believe we belonged to one another?

Worship (being affectionate to God) is an outward way to show that we know Him, we are grateful for His blessings, and that we believe in Him. No, it is not required, but if you’re in a relationship with someone, isn’t affection usually expected?

Reading your Bible is the way you get to know God more. It isn’t required, but the Bible is our sword! It gets us right into the heart of God. It is how we grow and change.

Prayer is the way we get to talk to God. We are blessed to be able to speak directly to Him. Prayer is our lifeline to God.

Cultivating our relationship with Jesus is what grows us and helps others to see that we belong to Him. Then we become a true disciple for Him.

Follow Him,

jamie

Pr. 20:6: “Most men will proclaim each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man?”

I read a chapter in a book to my kids yesterday and, after I finished, I asked them what happened. My daughter gave a quick answer, but my son was distracted and didn’t appear to be prepared to speak. I asked him a question about it and, after pretending to think about the answer, he said he didn’t remember. I asked him some specific questions about the story about things that would have stood out, and found out that he had not been listening at all…for the entire chapter!! Grrrrr. I was pretty frustrated.

Now what? Was I to read the entire chapter over just for him? Skip it and just recap it for him? Make him read it on his own? (It’s way above his “grade level” but that could be a good reminder for him) Or perhaps I should just give up on that book entirely since it obviously didn’t grab his attention? Anyway…

I was so frustrated at that moment that I decided it would be best if we moved on to another school subject. I would decide what to do about the book later, but I was stewing on the inside.

Boy did he throw off my vibe for the day and my plans for our book reading time. Why couldn’t he just listen? Why didn’t I just make him sit beside me like I usually did? So many questions. So much stewing. Why couldn’t he just be perfect, right? haha!

How many times have my kids tried to talk to me and I’ve been doing something else and giving them half of my attention? How many times have they told me all about something they’ve been working hard on in Minecraft and, while I “listened” to them enough to appease them, I couldn’t repeat it to you now if I had to because it didn’t really matter to me?

I know I’m not the only one. We are all guilty of things like this. When we see the faults in others, we compare their faults to our strengths. That’s not really fair, is it? Like this verse says, we all proclaim our own goodness, but not one of us are faithful. Not 100%. We are all just doing the best we can.

It’s good that we know who we are in Christ and that we have confidence in ourselves. It’s when we start thinking ourselves better than those around us that we begin to err. We have no business comparing ourselves with others…especially not fault to strength. We each have our faults and we each have our strengths. That’s why we work so well together as ‘the body’ of Christ; each having our own part to play.

Today is a new day. My son will be sitting beside me today as we read, but my understanding cap is on and we will get through this together.

Team building,

jamie