There is a powerful verse in the Old Testament book that comes from a father to his son. You may have heard of these two men: King David and his son, Solomon. The time is coming for Solomon to be the next King and Dad has some advice for him as he is facing the daunting task of building the Temple.
This is what King David advised: 1 Chronicles 28:9-10, “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever. So take this seriously. The Lord has chosen you to build a Temple as his sanctuary. Be strong, and do the work.” That’s good advice. No, wait. That is great advice. No, maybe there is even a better way to say it. I know! It’s life-changing and sensational advice that we all want to embrace as a Christian. The fact remains that the life of a follower of Jesus is no easy task. Just as daunting as building a massive Temple compound with intricate details is our walk with Christ Jesus as Lord. Notice David’s advice, up front, was learning to know God intimately. That’s deep! There are no “Sunday only” acknowledgements here. This is an every-day, all the time, every moment lifestyle of staying deep with God as Father. That, above all, is the greatest of Commandments. Luke 10:27, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind.’” A real Christian will live a sanctified life of intimacy with their Heavenly Father. The next round of advice that sticks out to me is to not only to worship, but to serve God with our whole heart and a willing mind. Our God is not the “use as the last resort” God. He is not the “scraps and left over” deity. He is the always first, never last, agape-loving, grace-filled, mercy-rendering God who is worthy of our never-ending worship, love, obedience, and service. Always. No less. Christians must stop living such below-standard, not-trying-very-hard, spiritual lives. Let’s be honest and just admit that many claiming Christianity as their “faith group” are so below the minimum qualifications that they are truly, religiously, bearing a false witness. That is no way to live as it is shameful, if not, heartbreaking. Walking aimlessly without effort by drifting day to day is not the Christian way. You will never find those directions or commands in Scripture. What you will find are words such as “fight” and “sacrifice.” You’ll also find concepts such as obedience, repentance, holiness, self-control, giving, and fearlessness…just to name a few. The key for me is David’s statement “with a willing mind.” You must choose to live a radically obedient and sanctified, holy life. Nobody will make you. Some may actually encourage you and possibly urge consistently, but in the end, it’s still your choice. Just be advised that this involves the issue of making the effort. You have to honestly and passionately choose to live this way. I am not saying “give it a shot and see if it works.” Half-hearted effort is no effort at all. Taking a shot at it is no different than taking no shot at all. Again, you will never find in Scripture the permission to “just take a stab at it and do the best you can.” So, take David’s final statement to heart: “Be strong and do the work.” Take your faith seriously and work hard at it. Worship with passion. Dig deep into Scripture and learn the truths of God’s Word. Love your neighbor and serve, give, evangelize. Reconcile each day in confession and repentance of sin. Spend large amounts of time alone with God in conversation and prayer. Take Jesus with you everywhere you go and keep Him with you no matter where you are or what you are doing. David’s words to Solomon are words to us today. Heed them. Live them.
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If you have shopped on-line, I am sure you are well acquainted with the term “your cart.” The “cart” works the same as any regular shopping cart in the retrial stores. Your “cart” is the location where all the items you are intending to purchase on-line are “stored” until you are ready to “check out and pay.”
Spiritually speaking, do you know we also have our own faith-based “cart?” That is “C-A-R-T” which is an acronym to help guide us in striving after holiness. We must be pursuing a sanctified life that is holy and pleasing to God (Romans 12:2). After all, choosing to live a sanctified life is considered reasonable, appropriate, and is not “too much to ask” (The Living Bible). We must seek, daily, in a personal, loving and intimate relationship, our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Spending time with Him and in Scripture and prayer, will strengthen our resolve to be a holy people that brings glory to our Heavenly Father. One way to do that is to remember the acronym “C-A-R-T”….we must keep the cart full by doing the following steps: 1. C - Come: We cannot remain in the same place. We must continually move toward Jesus. We must come to Jesus, and to no one else, to nothing else. John 15:5, ““Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” 2. A - Abide: Once we have come to Jesus, we must stay with Him and never return to the life we had before Christ. Jesus asks us to remain with Him, and not gradually wander away from Him. Salvation is not the end, but only the beginning of our faith journey. We must remain in Jesus and in His Word. John 8:31-32, “…Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 3. R - Rest: Just because we have come to Jesus and are abiding in Him doesn’t mean we will continue to do so. As Augustine one wrote: “Our hearts are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” Jesus says that in Him we will find rest. However, we must strive diligently to enter into His rest through practices such as our devotional life, prayer, and observing the Sabbath. Hebrews 4:11, “Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will perish by following their example of disobedience.” We must do everything we can to keep the cares of this world from robbing us of our time of rest with Jesus. 4. T - Trust. Here is the “catch.” Once you come, abide, and rest, you realize you have to live out your faith and a battle to fight. Jesus’ heart is focused on the conversion and salvation of all. He wants all to come to know the Lord. 2 Peter 3:9, “Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. We must take action and obey. We honestly can’t go about our life and “mind our own business.” We must forsake “self” as we are called to take risks by living out the Gospel as well as telling others about Jesus. Choose holiness and a lifestyle, in faith, that is pleasing to God. Live each day fully surrendered to the work of the Holy Spirit to transform you and use you to bear spiritual fruit. Keep going on towards perfection of a sanctified life. Let’s keep our “C.A.R.T.” full! Let us: Come. Abide. Rest. Trust. SHARE |
AuthorPastor Charles - Archives
April 2024
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