"Next?"

“Next?” By: David W. Ching
22 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says” (James 1:22)
Christ did not offer Himself to us as a burden and we shouldn’t be a burden on His church. He declared that His yoke was easy and His burden was light. A living faith is not something that you have to carry, but something that carries you. Christ stated He was the light of the world. Meaning He is the light that brightens our lives; gives it purpose; and gives it peace and hope. It’s sad that in the lives of many Christians, there is not enough of Christ shining to light a single bulb on a Christmas tree.

Let us not be hampered in our thinking by the fear that we will in the end be confronted with some orthodox formulation which we can accept only by compromising our intellectual integrity. I at least will make no such demand in what I say. The formula is quite simple and I will not be all Theological in stating it:
“To be spiritually fed, you must be physically present” (Ching 2007, 5). You must make the commitment to use the talent and potential He has given you and move from having potential to being productive for Him.

You cannot expect to only attend church service every third Sunday and be productive; or see His productivity in your life. You cannot show up on one Wednesday night a month and expect spiritual blessings to come your way. You either make the commitment to be the person He has called you to be or you sit back and play church. But remember, “You are either part of the problem or part of the solution.” The Choice is yours.

Think about it: Everything else in life is secondary to knowing and loving God. The first and foremost purpose you have in life is to know the God who made you. When we trust or yield ourselves to Christ, there is a true commitment just like in a healthy marriage. How tragic that many marriages are dysfunctional and are a poor example of long lasting commitments. Don’t let your lack of commitment be a poor example and have eternal consequences in your end result. We love Him because He first loved us (1 John. 4:19).
John 15:2 tells us, “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (NIV). We are the Body of Christ…