WHAT DOES A 69 YEAR OLD HAVE TO SAY TO A 27 YEAR OLD
Guard Your Spiritual Life
After some time of conversation with my new friend, it came my turn to ask a question. My friend was from the northern part of the states so I asked him what he saw as the difference in folks from the North and folks from the South. After a brief pause, he responded with the statement that you did not hear to many people from the North say they were Christians. But when you did, you could believe they were sincere. He then stated that most everybody from the South claimed to be Christian, but few appeared to be genuine. To me, that was an astounding statement, in particular to those of us who live in the South.
Be on your guard to know what you believe. John 3: 16 states," For God so loved the world that He gave his one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life." That statement by Jesus is the most important statement for us to hold on to. It is the source of our life now and for all eternity. The key word though, is believe. James 2:19 states that even the devil believes there is a God and that Jesus is the Son of God. So what does Jesus mean when He says to believe?
Many people fall into the same category as represented in the passage in James, we believe there is a God and there was a Jesus. When I first met Jeanie, I believed she was the woman God had sent me to be my wife. But until I asked her to marry me, I never really surrendered my heart to that belief. When I did, I made an action step of commitment and I based the rest of my life on that belief. I trusted God to be real and I put my faith and action in her as my soul mate for life. My belief became surrender to God in that situation as I committed myself to her.
Be on guard that you do not let worldly culture distract you from your true beliefs. Many believe the greatest danger to Christianity today is what they call "Cultural Christianity". It is a Christianity so influenced by the world culture that it is hard to tell the difference between the Christian and the non-Christian. Statistics tell us that today for every ten people in the church, only one professes to have a Biblical world view. George Barna in his book, THINK LIKE JESUS, states;"American Christianity has largely failed since the middle of the twentieth century because Jesus' modern day disciples do not act like Jesus. They fail to represent Him well, not because they are incapable of Christlike behavior out of an absence of good intentions, but because they do not think like Jesus." What we need today are folks who are committed to seek Him, surrender to Him, and will stand with Him in the mist of a modern day culture that is desperately trying to lead us astray.
Be on guard to believe the Word of God. The Bible is the foundation upon which our whole life is built. Keeping it as the foundation will be a challenge, for the culture of today tries to convince us that it is not relevant to today's times, and therefore, cannot be relied upon. Those who believe the Bible as the authentic word of God, will be looked upon as out of touch and fanatical. We must also recognize the tendency is for us to pick and choose parts of the Bible that suit our wants and beliefs. Be careful not to be the judge of what is of God and what is not. Either it is the Word of God, or, it is not.
We all have to come to a decision as to what we are going to do with God, with Jesus, and His Word. Our beliefs determine our actions, our actions determine our character, and our character determines our destiny. All this comes from simply what we believe.
Take it from the experiences of a 69 year old. I believe with all my heart that Jesus is the Son of God. I have seen Him work in my life in ways that could only be of Him. I have read His Word and have been given insights as to who He is, what He stands for, and what He has for me in my journey of life. " The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God. They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green proclaiming,"The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in Him." Psalm 92: 12-15
