Day 2427 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.


2 Timothy 4:3 NIV

Those times have arrived! Sadly when we look around at some of what is called Christianity today a lot of it looks pretty worldly. I heard something yesterday and it was one of those simple little statements that just stops you in your tracks. In our faith we've gone from a sacrament to a sermon to a show. We've allowed what we want to become more of a concern than what we need, and friends, our faith just isn't supposed to be that way.

These days we’re far more likely to find some lavish production than a simple study of Scripture. People want to be entertained more than they want to grow. That’s a direct reflection of our society’s priorities. We have been taught to consume, to seek what entertains us, and to prioritize what gratifies our personal preferences. We want to be afforded this opportunity to remain comfortable. We don’t want to be confronted with the fact that our desires stand in opposition to what God requires.

It’s one more example of how we’ve placed ourselves on the throne. We’ve made seeking our own wants and wishes more of a concern than seeking truth and being corrected by it. We’ve pushed Scripture and the study of it aside so that we can hear what our ears want to hear instead. Nobody wants to hear about the mistakes they’re making. Nobody wants to be confronted or shaken out of their comfy little hideouts. So sound teaching and the truth about sin and our fall from grace just doesn’t do it for us anymore.

You know, I even heard one “pastor” say that God is comfortable with the distance between us and Him. God is okay with the fact that we’re not where He wants us to be. Are you kidding me? We’re the ones who are comfortable with the distance between us and God because that distance is created by our selfishness and filled with the sins that appeal to our desires. We’re the ones who are okay with staying where we are and skipping the hard work and growing pains that come with sanctification.

How long are we going to continue watering down our faith to suit our desires? How long can we stay blind to the fact that if our faith makes us comfortable then something is clearly wrong? How long can we ignore the fact that God isn’t calling us to be entertained or appeased but to be humbled and to grow in His truth rather than our desires? Doing what we want has gotten us where we are, and if we think that God is okay with us staying where we are then we’ve lost our minds!

We have to stop following a religion that suits our desires and start pursuing the faith that actually leads to God. We have to stop looking for a message that makes us comfortable and look for the one that carries the truth. We have to stop seeking what is entertaining and seek instead what actually helps us grow in Christ because He is the only way to Heaven. Smoke machines and coffee shops don’t mean a thing when it comes to eternity.

None of this has ever or will ever be about us. So we have to stop making it that way. We can’t afford to remain comfortable or be entertained while our eternal peace is on the line. What we want may be more enjoyable but what we need is what truly makes us better. At the end of the day, if it doesn’t challenge you then it doesn’t change you. And friends, we all need as much change as we can get!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 1996 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Image
Isaiah 44:22 NIV Redemption: To compensate for the faults or bad aspects of something; to gain or regain possession of something in exchange for payment; or to fulfill or carry out a pledge or promise. Our God is so big that He fits every definition of the word! We've been talking about how we don't have to be lost in doing things our own way forever and how He will welcome us back whenever we finally realize we need Him more than anything else. Redemption is why. All of our mistakes, all our weaknesses, all our excuses have been washed away. There is literally nothing left between us and God except for us. We are all that remains in the way of the healing and forgiveness that we need. Seriously, all that stands in our way of the peaceful and joyous freedom we're looking for is our choice to turn back to Him. That's it! I think that one of the biggest hurdles we face in making that choice is that it truly seems impossible. Whether we openly admit them or not, we all kno
Read more

Day 2317 of the 7 day Bible verse challenge.

Image
Proverbs 16:18 NIV Most, if not all of us have this innate problem that we've developed. Maybe it's a result of living in a world that has nearly no concept of wrong. Maybe it's just a product of our deceitful minds wanting to do whatever we want without having to weigh the consequences. Whatever the reason, we've somehow gotten it in our minds that we're incapable of making mistakes. We've become conceited to the point that we actually believe that we never get anything wrong. And while that may make us feel good, there's no avoiding the truth that tells us otherwise! Each of us make the wrong choices. We jump to conclusions. We take things out of context. We rush through things. We assume that we know what someone else is talking about without making sure. We answer before we hear the full question. We hear things that someone else doesn't necessarily say. We let things slip out of our mouths that we may not really mean. We give in to selfishness witho
Read more

Welcome to The Forge!

Image
Welcome to The Forge! This page is all about God, our faith in Him, and finding our way back to the truths and principles found in His Word. As I'm sure many of you have noticed, the world is losing its mind. Sin is celebrated. Wrongs are viewed as right. What's right is out the window and seldom considered. Popularity is the driving force behind many actions. Being politically correct is the norm and anything else is just not acceptable.  Well, none of that nonsense flies in The Forge. We are stronger t han the pressures of the world around us. We are tougher than the pull of sin. We are called to rise above the fog of this hate-fueled judgment that the world is covered in. God didn't create us as timid little beings that need to be led around by our noses. He designed us to do better than simply go with the flow. No, He made us much different than that. He made us to be leaders, He created us to go against the grain, live outside the lines, and stand tall and hold firm to
Read more