Monday, September 5, 2016
There are some believers who at the start of their walk with Christ had the mistaken idea that all their troubles and cares were over and that their new life in Him would be a bed of roses, and although it is a fact that there is no better life than the one in Christ, our lives here on earth are not exempt from pain, distress, rejection, and heartache. Many Christians had this experience when they started their new life in Christ, me included: We thought that now that the Lord had transformed our lives and had made us better persons, all our family members and friends were going to rejoice with us and love us more than ever. That didn’t happen and in most cases it was the opposite.
I don’t know how long I went around feeling perplexed about losing friends and not having the approval of the people in my life I especially wanted to please, but I think the answer to my dilemma came when I read this declaration of Jesus in Matthew 10:34-36: “Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law - a man’s enemies will be the members of his own household.” I bet some of you are going through this experience even now as you are reading this blog. This is just one of the effects the gospel has on people. Sadly, many who seemingly start a new life in Christ, are not willing to pay this price and will fall away when it happens. In my case, and because God is good, with time I was able to win back many family members and friends. More importantly, some of these also came to Christ. I pray you too will see some of your friends and loved ones come back.
Our walk with Christ is a life of choices. We have to make them on a daily basis. Some of them are pretty clear cut and easy to make, others, not so much, especially when we have to choose between pleasing God or certain people in our lives. We all know that pleasing everybody is impossible and the world is filled with quotes about that topic. Nevertheless, we should also know by now that we must first go by what the bible says about the matter. One such instance is found in Galatians 1:10 where the Apostle Paul wrote: “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” The advice is clear: the One we should always strive to please first is the One who loves us the most and the One to whom we are the most indebted.
God’s promise for today: (1 John 2:17) “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.”
