I was visiting a friend in the lobby of our Equestrian Lodge last night, and a lady came in who was checking into our resort late. I took her over to get her checked in and she remarked that she had seen me once before when I’d preached at the church that she attends in Tallahassee. She told me that she was glad that she ran into me because she had a question that she’d wanted to ask me ever since she heard me speak.
Her question was: “What do you think is the most important thing that God is trying to tell us?”
Hmmm…Interestingly I’m currently organizing our Honey Lake Church and Worldwide Ministry and I just completed establishing a draft version of a mission and therein I believe lies the answer(s) to her question. I use plural because I think it’s too complex a subject for a singular approach.
I listed my first cut at it as follows:
- Evangelize
- Prepare believers to resist satan’s attacks in our daily walk
- Teach systematic Bible study as a way of life
- Teach sharing of the Gospel
Based on my life’s experience and over forty years of Bible study, I believe that God is trying to tell us the foregoing as His most important message to us.
God is primarily concerned about our salvation. There can be no question about this, and all one needs to do is point to the sacrificial death of His only Son Jesus Christ on the cross for our sins. That was a monumental occurrence and nothing supersedes it or ever will!
Second, once we are Christians God wants us to accomplish His purpose for creating us in the first place and He wants us to make the most out of our lives. He wants us to live a life that matters!
In order to do that we must realize that a spiritual warfare for our very lives is transpiring and that we are fighting a mighty army. We can only resist satan and his constant attacks upon us by putting on what the Bible describes as the “full armor of God”; (constant prayer, studying/hearing God’s word daily, fellowship with other Christians, strong faith, and righteous living). We must do this on a daily basis in order to survive and thrive by following Jesus Christ and not crash and burn by following the world.
Third God has written His Holy Bible to help us with virtually any situation. We should begin a systematic Bible study as a way of life in order to live a life that matters. I’ve not received much formal education, but I learned early on that the Bible is an incredible source of information. In fact I would go as far as to say I’ve never had a question that could not be answered by studying the Bible and praying for God to show me where to find my answers.
I compare it to an owner’s manual. Similar to a manufacturer of a vehicle that provides an owner’s manual to help us understand what needs to be done in order to properly care for our vehicle in order to allow it to have a long productive life, God does likewise with His Holy Bible for us. Like any loving father He tells us not to do things like lie, cheat, steal, murder, covet, etc. because those things will harm us.
I look at it as being similar to telling a child not to reach for that pretty, (but red hot), burner on the stove. The child can obey and thrive, or be disobedient and grab it anyway and get burned. Sin has consequence and God warns us about them and tries to help us avoid them.
I use the analogy of throwing a rock at a window. We can regret throwing it immediately upon its leaving our hand, but the glass still gets shattered. Lives get shattered similarly once sin is set in motion in our lives. God warns us about such things through His Holy Bible owner’s manual.
By the same token certain things we do produce tremendous blessings in our lives. Giving to the church, poor, and helping others yields tremendous blessings from God and He loves a cheerful giver. I can attest to His blessings and I’ve learned that I cannot begin to out give God. Honoring our parents yields a long life, avoiding divisive, angry, bitter people yields dividends, forgiving those who have wronged us instead of bitterly hating, and so forth all result in blessings from God.
The final thing I listed is sharing the Gospel or “Good News” of Christ with others. The last thing Jesus commanded in all four Gospels was to spread the word of God to all nations. It is significant and poignant for God to have saved this last command prior to His ascension. Everything in the Bible is included in there for a purpose and it appears so well thought out as to be mind boggling to me. I guarantee it is not an accident that this command was listed in all four Gospels as the very last thing Jesus mandated prior to His ascension. He wanted us to listen to this important command and obey it. He wants us to witness to others! If we do we will be blessed. If we don’t, we will miss out on the greatest blessing of all and that is planting seeds that will prevent someone from spending eternity in hell.
There are many other things God wants us to know and do and I could not list them in a thousand years. The greatest command is to love God and second to that is to love each other in similar manner. We should be forgiving and not judgmental or condemning. Jesus said He came to save the world and not to judge or condemn it. He will do that one day, but that day has not arrived. If it happens today, probably half the world’s inhabitants would arrive in hell. I dislike even thinking about that prospect and am ready to witness to others today as I do every day of my life. Frankly I don’t look at this as some mundane chore. I look at it as an honor and privilege to spread the Gospel.
So there you have a lengthy answer to a short question. Whew!
Have a great day today…
Matt. 28:19
Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.