“It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living
God.” (Hebrews 10:31)
A living God.
An Omnipotent,
Omniscient and Omnipresent God. The living God.
Sometimes I
don't consider this; that my God is powerful, present, and knowledgeable in
every area of my life and I start to worship elsewhere
Who, or
what, has my attention, my time, and my efforts? Where do I worship? It strikes
me that I have been doing an awful lot of worshiping at school, at home, in my
family, and even in my husband. I have forgotten that the risen Savior might
return tomorrow and that nursing, and my marriage, and my friendships will all
be a gone These things are good, and I even believe Christ has called me to
investing in them, yet they are finite
and God is infinite. The moment I start forgetting this is the moment I
begin to worship elsewhere.
It is so
easy to displace our worship. This scares me because it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of
a living God. Christ is jealous of our worship. He loves us fiercely and when
we give our hearts to another, when we worship elsewhere, He is angered. He yearns for our attention and our repentance.
Sometimes I
wake up and ask myself what I would do if Jesus came back today. What would I
say about my dwindling efforts to share the gospel, or of my postponing Jesus’
final commandment – to make disciples? How would I respond to the question of
whether or not I held my Christian brothers and sisters accountable? Will I tell Jesus that I was trying to be
nice? That I didn't want to offend or bring my faith where it “just shouldn't
be brought”? Will I tell him that I didn't want to burn a bridge or wreck a
relationship? That I didn't want to be the “crazy” overly intense Christian?
Sin is deadly.
It is
poison and it infects every aspect of ones life.
This
challenges me because in Jude we are cautioned to mercifully correct our
brothers and sisters and in doing so we “snatch them from the flames of judgment”.
But the thing is, we just don't do this.
We allow the gospel to be watered down. We allow our Christian family to walk headlong into destruction.
We neglect sharing in our workplace or schools. We don't want to face the
awkwardness of calling our brother and sisters out of their sin. We want to be
loving in a culture that demands “respect” for everyone. We are condemned for
judging should we speak out against sin yet, “the opposite of love is not hate, it is indifference.” (1) and we have mastered the art of indifference.
I have mastered indifference. You have mastered indifference
Stop it.
Just stop.
This life
is literally a whisper in the wind
and we have to answer for eternity. We have to think about forever. Doesn't that scare you? It should, because it is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of a living God. Where are we worshiping? Do we leave our faith at home;
as if it is something we can put on and take off as we please? We should embody Christ, there should be no
distinction between where we start and he ends. We should be one, irreversibly
married and my challenge, to you and to me is to stop acting like we aren’t.
Eternity is on the line. Your friends, your family, your coworkers. Their
eternity is on the line. The gospel is urgent. What if Jesus comes back
tomorrow? How will you answer those questions? Our indifference is costing
lives daily and it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of a living God.
Do we
really live like it is?
1 Jeff Bucknam
